Sorry, Steven. I've just been hitting the high spots for a bit and lost track of this one. I think you are on the right track with your earlier pics of removing the largest piece of that fork at the top of the tree. This tree should be ever more delicate as you get to the top or the outer edges of the branch. One of my biggest mistakes over the years has been trying to use too-big branches that can never be shaped properly. So don't be afraid to cut back and work from new material. It's a nice tree. Good luck!

Graft.

I realize that you aren't posting these for educational purposes, but next time you may want to work the lower part of the rootball more, not nearly as hard as you work maples, but enough to allow you to remove all of the bad soil over a repotting or two. The things that really improve the roots on deciduous trees are removing all of the down growing roots and removing all of the really straight, non-tapering roots. Surface roots are like branches and trunks, they need to taper and have movement- and not cross. I know that repotting trees can be an emotional challenge as to how much to remove, but not getting the root structure corrected will lead to a long term problem. It is much easier to correct the roots before you get the branch structure worked out, if you shed a branch now, what does it matter? Later on it can be problematic. John

OK. During this trees awakening as the buds extended I pinched them back. Strong buds I left 2 leaves, weak buds I left 3-4 leaves. I have been going by an article written by Harry Harrington at http://bonsai4me.com/ on Fagus species. He demonstrates with F. sylvatica but I have contacted him and the same techniques can also be used for F. crenata. Using this pinching technique is supposed to force the tree to replace this lost growth/foliage. Thus, I'm presuming, wake up latent buds on the branches and trunk. I am at a loss on this. It has been just over a month since I completed this pinching back and I have not seen any new growth or latent buds pop except at 2 places(see pics). And these 2 places is where I DO NOT want growth(I know I can't choose where it pops). I am feeding it well. I have fert cakes from NorthStar Bonsai, the 6-6-6 ones all around and hitting it with fish emulsion and seaweed extract once a week. Is there something I am not understanding? Something I'm not doing correctly? Doing incorrectly? I have been reading that article over and over since fall of last yr. So much so that I printed it out so I could read it when not here on the 'net. Any help or suggestions will be helpful. Now here are latest pics. Thanks!