Look at
@wireme 's thread on candelabra form for spruce. In nature, in North America, Thuja often do a candelabra shape. In north America none of the hinoki are native, all are modified, shaped, what ever by humans, so NA grown hinoki are not good models for what a hinoki could look like, but Thuja is a close cousin. Up near Traverse City MI, I was looking at Thuja that were well over 300 years old. Candelabra is the shape that best describes their general pattern. Hard to photograph, as the forest was too dense to stand back far enough to see the whole trees.
So
@Manmountain526 consider thinking of that first branch as a candelabra type sub trunk. It should leave the main trunk at a close to horizontal level, then bend up to vertical at a modest distance from the main trunk.
A design principal for you and for
@BobbyLane - and his hinoki drawing, the secondary trunk needs to be roughly one third or two thirds the height of the main trunk, if it is taller than 2/3, the human eye has trouble deciding which is dominant, which creates visual competition. If sub-trunk is less than 2/3 the height to 1/3rd the height, the eye sees it as close to 1/2 which for some reason is predictable, looks contrived or boring. If the tree is roughly 1/3 the height the sub-trunk to the dominant trunk is again pleasing, the parent-child relationship. THis is not a ''rule'', but one of the constants in Japanese design that has some usefulness. I'm not trying to dictate design
@BobbyLane , but your drawing brought the thought to mind, and I thought I would offer it for your consideration.
@Manmountain526 - I think the candelabra for that first branch, out then up, to nearly vertical, would be a good solution. Where it needs to go vertical the diameter has already decreased significantly, so it should be possible to do the bend. Then, because Hinoki never back bud, branches on the shorter sub trunk can ''fill in'' for branches that get too sparse and far out on the main trunk. (have them spread behind the main trunk, lends depth) Keep the secondary trunk roughly 2/3 the height of the main, so for now it needs to get a bit taller. You really need to let the tree recover for a number of months, 12 to 24 in my mind, but I'm only looking at a photo. See how the tree responds, if vigorous next autumn you can do more serious bending. Let it grow. You need the existing foliage to extend some for the benefit of the roots, trunk and overall health of the tree.