Your photo is not a very clear indication of what you are attempting to describe :-) Can you be a bit more specific with both?

I've never seen this syndrome before. Looks like a flower bud spur on a wisteria!

Sorry ill try for a better picture. But basically all the new growth this fall is shooting upward and on the new growth. 1 to 3 inches there are probably 20 to 25 nodes. Also the new growths leaves are just now falling off while the rest of the tree has lost it leaves 2 to 3 week prior.

Have you been using herbicide on the lawn or the rocks?

No just a regular dose of fertilizer for the lawn during the growing season.

I've never seen such tight internodes before on a Japanese maple. I wouldn't prune it. Who knows, if it retains that characteristic it might be worth grafting.

Most of my seedling Japanese maples in pots have retained some leaves on the very top and on the ends of the branches, but the nodes are far apart. The new growth was in response to good nutrient rich potting soil and late season watering.

Some of the dwarfs - 'Mikawa Yatsubusa' or 'Hupp's Dwarf' for example - have very tight internodes like that but 'Tamukeyama' shouldn't. Maybe it's sporting, in which case, I'd heed Mike's advice and grow them on a bit, then try grafting.

Your lawn fertilizer wasn't a weed and feed product was it?

No not a weed and feed and I'm careful not to get any in the pot I almost killed one of my trees that way years ago. Here's a picture of three on the front side and another sorry I can't get a great picture.

Another thing it might be is some kind of mite. This is based on similar damage to other kinds of plants, and not something I know about maples in particular.

Maybe it's just getting too big for the pot. Root bound trees and fertilizer can do some strange things.

I am by no means an expert but I don't think the tree is root bound its only been in that pot for the 2 years I've had it and there was plenty of room to grow. I do plan on repotting most of my trees this winter so I guess I'll see.

Part of a branch isn't going to suddenly go goofy like that just because of root crowding. And there is a bunch of recent vigorous growth present on the same specimen.