Don Blackmond
Omono
Right. That's how they make old, specimen kotobuki in Japan. They graft kotobuki branches on old tree understock, then develop them for many years.Yeah I mean they have changed the foliage with koto on regular old Japanese pines.
They do have cutting grown and layered trees but typically the biggest trunked, oldest looking trees are grafts.
Kotobuki is a genetic mutant that was selected and developed. They don't seed or reproduce, so the only way to get more is through layering/grafting.