Hi, all. I was recently given a nursery stock hinoki cypress. The tree has never been pruned, so it is a nest of foliage fronds growing into each other. That I know what to do with, thanks to the “Hinoki Aesthetics” stream. My problem is that all the branches are growing straight up, which means that the foliage mass is on the “outside” of the branches. If I wire the branches down to create a structure, then the foliage ends up on the underside of the branch. Should I try to turn the branch so that the new foliage and foliage density is on the top? That would mean torquing the branches 180 degrees or thereabouts, which I can’t imagine would be good for the tree. Or do I leave the branch with the bulk of the foliage mass on the bottom of the branch and hope for the best–in other words, will the tree take care of it?
Bend down and turn 90* to have the foliage mass lateral. I have a sort of similar problem with the apex of my hinoki. It was growing straight up, so when I laid the apex down It was difficult to tell which side was the “top”. Likely because depending on what part of the apex I looked it I either got it right or wrong. 
Just going with it and keeping it out of full sun for a bit to give the leaves time to adjust.
Post a pic of your hinoki if you can. Word of warning. These things are difficult to style/wire. I’m still wiring mine and I’ve already put 6 hours into it. Not in a single stretch because of time, but still. There are so many branches/fronds that need to be wired. I also just suck at styling. 
It seems to take to wiring well though. Branches I’ve had to rewire held their shape after only having the wire on there for a couple of weeks. This is a golden hinoki though which seems to have different foliage than the “normal” hinoki I picked up this weekend. Yes, I grabbed another hinoki even after the first one was a pain in the buttocks. I’ll eventually get a third as I want a formal upright hinoki as well.
Thanks for the reply and for the tips! I don’t have a pic yet, but I’ll post one when I can. I would love to get a golden hinoki. I haven’t seen one, but I bet they’re beautiful!
I watched Ryan’s wiring streams again, and he gave some tips on changing the orientation of a branch while wiring it. I’ll give that a try. I have a feeling I’ll be rewatching those streams multiple times as I work up my nerve to step up and start wiring my own trees.