New Immigrants from Japan
According to the 2020 Census, there were about 1.6 million persons of Japanese descent in the U.S. Whereas Japanese Americans were the largest of the Asian American subgroups until 1970, today there are more Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Korean Americans, due largely to the greatly increased number of immigrants from those countries since the liberalization of immigration laws in 1965. Over 40% of Japanese Americans are of mixed-race descent. Though making up a smaller percentage than other Asian American groups, there are still a significant number of postwar immigrants among Japanese Americans, who make up about one-third of the population. Postwar immigrants—referred to as "shin-Issei"—were demographically quite different from the pre-1924 immigrants, with most coming from middle-class backgrounds and a higher percentage being women.
Excerpt from Densho Archive
Sean [Yoko Ono’s son] asked me, “We are having a concert in Tokyo. Would you like to come?” That was in 2008. I hesitated as I thought it would be a hassle to go to Japan just for one night. My songs are rather difficult to play for a lot of musicians. And I thought, “It might be too hard for Japanese musicians.” I had no idea who the musicians were either. Then we played together, and they did it perfectly. I was surprised. They really did play along with me. Based on my experience, even internationally well-respected musicians had a hard time to play music along with me. [While we were playing at the concert] I looked at the musicians and saw them all smiling. I thought, “Wow, this is terrific!” They were just enjoying playing music, and were not really trying hard. They turned out to be great musicians. When Sean said, “Mom, let’s record an album,” I said, “Get those people for me,” and they came over.
Interview with Yoko Ono
Rolling Stone Japan, October 2009