"Construction, very thin walled delicate construction...elegance and understated balance, these things are lacking often in western pots. This is not slight our western potters, like with our bonsai, we have decades of catch up work to do with Japanese pottery, and centuries with the Golden age Chinese kilns! A friend once gave Mr Kobayashi a custom made Rayner as a gift in thanks for friendship(these things are not taken lightly)...it was stored in his collection with the $300 pots. I still think our western porters have a vast and wonderful landscape to explore, and look forward to them traversing it."
In my experience with Japanese and Western pots there are some big differences, sure. Aged Japanese pots with patina certainly add to the composition, but to intimate that using a quality western pot made by an experienced western potter is somehow "cheating" your trees is, well, silly.
I have had more than one Japanese pot that has all the character of a chunk of milk chocolate or had glazes fail in the first year. The really nice Japanese stuff is way beyond my price range, ability and patience to acquire, as I suspect it is for most. How much does an aged 24" Japanese pot go for? Where can they be found? The Tofokuji pots that have become all the rage can't be used easily with any of my trees, ridiculously too small for much of anything. Also, actually USING such an expensive pot is not for the faint of heart. I mean, what if you, your dog, a squirrel, wind or whatever break a $1,000 pot in everyday use? Not easily explained to the missus...
"You buy your kids clothes at wal mart, they'll get goofed on in school." Wow...don't know what to say to this kind of thing. Some of us can't afford trhe mark up at Nieman's.
For the money, quality, established western potters (and admittedly, there are more and more western potters just entering the market that haven't "gotten it" as far as what a bonsai pot is) are more than adequate for me, regardless of "cheating out on my trees."