Actually I heard a bit about Bonsai. From the Japanese perspective, they prefer the Bonsai to be left in their own shape (but of course trim some parts) to give some originality without obvious human intervention. However in Chinese perspective, they tends to tie and shape the Bonsai to give some Dragon/religion images. Bonsai are to be left in the garden to collect enough sunlight and water. As most of you said, they need to be patiently taken care of, with trimmings and such.

I don't have such patience to take care of the Bonsai