Here is another view.

Should recover quickly & be OK. Cryptomerias don't lose their dead foliage easily, tho. It weeble-wobbles but doesn't fall off.

if it is a cryto .. they didnt live very long in my z5 MI ...

where are you???

it was a large transplant wasnt it??? the center is bare.. because of transplant shock ... all conifers shed needles.. holding them 1 to 3 years.. and the oldest.. those inside.. are the first to go.. and it can be a lot.. due to transplant shock ...

ken

If it looks like that after this winter you have nothing to worry about. Just trim the dead bits away, like beng said, alas they won't fall off in a timely manner.

Yeah, that's a rather amazing performance for a cryptomeria in z5 NY, which was prb'ly near z4 conditions this past winter. Looks like a big crop of male-cones forming all over it.

Deep snowcover on the ground can help reduce soil-freezing & subsequent stem/foliage damage.

I'm in southern Indiana, 6b, and my Cryptomeria 'Yoshino' looks identical to yours after this past winter. My 'Black Dragon' always looks like yours each spring, but always pushes new, very dense, growth. I just trim out the brown and move on.

Profnick... be aware there is a reason why those are not that common, they are borderline for Zone 5. May survive but may not look all that great. The inner branches will be bare, those are old branches. As long as the tips are green, the plant is growing and alive.

How many years have you had this? Or was it planted last year? This spring? The tree does look really good for your area if it has survived the winter like that.

They do a little better here in the PNW, but still retain some dead growth on the species.
Here's one in my garden planted in 1982.
Mike