Forking of Japanese maples is entirely common and is expected in most cultivars. But this is not a shrubby selection and unless you whack it back pruning-wise, it never will be! If you wanted shrubby, you should have sought out one of the dwarf forms of coral bark, like 'Fjellhiem' or 'Beni Kawa'.

btw, this tree needs to be outside or if still too cold, in a protected but unheated area. Do not keep inside a heated home.

And while I applaude your audacity, growing Japanese maples in containers is probably not a great place to start for someone new to gardening :-)

Nicholsworth, I will be planting it outside. It's hanging out on my porch for now. I just brought it inside to take a pic. I live in zone 7, southeastern PA. I agree that a fork is a good thing for shrubs. This fork just looks too high up right now to me. Although that might be just because it's still a twig :) The plant is about 28 inches high and the fork is about 15 inches up. I guess as it matures, it won't look so off to me. I'm just wondering if I could/should encourage branching to occur lower by doing something now or if it would be better to just leave it be and wait to see what happens after a season of growth or just leave it be period and let the tree do what it do.

Gardengal, this is a Fjellheim...or at least that's what I was told it was. Right now, I'm keeping it on an enclosed porch. I think it's still a bit too cold to put it outside right now. This isn't my first attempt at container gardening but I only started last spring when I planted a kerria japonica, a drooping rainbow fetterbush, a dappled willow, and a Jane magnolia in containers. I had a few hiccups but everything survived after I corrected and they seem to have made it through the winter :) I'm really excited at adding the japanese maple to the group. I will keep my fingers crossed that I don't kill it :)

I took another pic of the base of the tree where a lower branch did start but it looks like it was broken or cut off. I don't know if the presence of that makes a difference in deciding whether to prune the tree now or not.

'Fjellheim' is shrubby by nature :-) And typically the suggestion is to wait to do any pruning until after the tree is older and somewhat established....somewhere around year 3-5. (unless you are using for bonsai, which is an entirely different proposition)

FINALLY..I was able to post pics..taken fall 2018..Sango Kaku was a peachy color first then yellow..I have lower limbs but I couldn't bring myself to cut them..I have 13 Japanese maples..mine aren't perfect..they're asymmetrical but they look natural in my woodland..I have neighbors that prune their JMs but I don't..theirs look like shrubs..to each his own but I like an unpruned look..I might remove a lower limb someday..but it's not a problem that's it's low and I wasn't ready..

Gardengal, so I guess I will just wait and see how it turns out. Maybe it was mislabeled :) I had a feeling the advice would lean towards leaving it alone. I think the only sites that mentioned pruning to encourage shrubby growth were for people growing them for resale. But I'm going to enjoy the process and the eventual reveal. Patience and acceptance and whatnot. I'm definitely going to keep an eye on drainage though, to make sure my potting soil isn't causing issues. I've been reading about gritty mix...

Nicholsworth, thanks for the pics! That peachy color is so pretty. How old is it and how long did it stay that color? I do enjoy the natural look of JMs. My desire for a shrubby look is mostly to keep the colors at eye level. The tree will be in my TINY backyard and I plan on putting it in view of my dining room window. It will have a vine covered fence as a background. In my mind, it's beautiful :)

the peachy color turned to yellow pretty quick..you can see a lot of yellow in the close up of the peach leaves..but I like the yellow too so it's ok..I'm guessing the tree is about 10 years old..it was the smallest JM that I ever bought..my neighbor had a much bigger more expensive coral bark and hers died..when I moved here there was one JM planted by the dining room window..

this pic was accidentally deleted..I recovered it but now it's fuzzy..I'll take a new one this fall..see how some branches are longer on the right?..but I hate to cut on it..I have but not much..another one..again not perfectly even..but to me beautiful..see how low the fork is?..I left it and I love this tree..there may be perfect looking JMs somewhere but I don't have any..this one has a more typical tree trunk..was straight when I planted it but now it's curving towards the driveway..I appreciate every red leaf that I have so I let them be..in my opinion most people prune unnecessarily..I can never move..I don't want anyone pruning my trees Lol..

I'd probably leave it until it is established outside. Once established you can shape it to your liking.

Yeah, I’ve decided that I’m not going to touch it other than cutting what sprouts from the root stock. It looks like the weather here has finally turned so I’m looking forward to moving the pot from my enclosed porch to my backyard. I’m hoping it will sprout some leaves.

This is my first time pruning trees so I am not qualified to give you advice on it, however in this video the man shows a couple dozen of his Japanese maples of many different cultivars, 9 months after he chopped them all to about half their height. Spoiler: they look like what you want after 9 months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6ihV6eschs&t=638s

Val, thanks for the video link. I nearly screamed when he started just clipping away. I almost seemed like a horror movie! Yes, that is definitely the way I eventually want my tree to look but I don't want to grow it as a bonsai. I've been looking at pics of JM with low forks and I think that as the trunk widens it will look more like I envisioned. In about 3 more years maybe? I'm seeing nice buds on it now. How can I tell if it's a leaf bud or a branch bud?

Leaf bud only appears at the growing apex (tip) of a branch. Everything else is a branch bud with its own growing tip.