Japanese of Bolivia (PGID: PG023935)

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Japanese of Bolivia

The Japanese of Bolivia, numbering approximately 21,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as an East Asian people whose culture reflects the interaction of indigenous traditions, East Asian influences, island geography, and long historical continuity. Their Japanese language serves as one of the strongest markers of national identity They are an Diaspora people, with Japanese as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Japanese people cluster of the East Asian Peoples. They mostly adhere to Shinbutsu-Shugo and Spanish is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Japanese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: Bolivia
People Cluster: Japanese
Primary Language(s): Spanish (spa)
Primary Religion(s): Shinbutsu-Shugo
Population: 21,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG023935
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Pray for the Japanese of Bolivia

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shinbutsu-Shugo
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

70%

Shinbutsu-Shugo Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Spanish
Language Family: Indo-European

100%

Spanish Speakers

Media Resources in Spanish:

Films:

Title	Link
JESUS	View Film
JESUS	View Film
Magdalena	View Film
Magdalena	View Film
The Savior	View Film

5 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Spanish:

Bible Name (Translation)	Video	Audio	Text
1569 Sagradas Escrituras			✓
1602 Reina-Valera Antigua			✓
Biblia de América	✓	✓	✓
Dios Habla Hoy		✓
La Biblia			✓
La Palabra de Dios para Todos		✓
La Santa Biblia, Nueva Versión Internacional®	✓
Lenguaje Actual		✓
Reina Valera 1995		✓
Reina Valera Contemporánea	✓
Reina Valera, Revisada y Corregida (1865)			✓
The Word of God for All - 2000 World Bible Translation Center		✓	✓
The Word of God for All 2014		✓	✓

13 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Spanish bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% or Greater but Less than 0.5% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Japanese:

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group

Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group

Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Japanese of Bolivia

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
1 Timothy 6:9

Pray for those, rich and poor, who have put their trust in worldly things, and ask that they will be honest with themselves, acknowledge their need for God and turn to Him.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Romans 9:16

Pray that the merciful God who is at work in people's hearts will advance His gospel among them.

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.
Psalm 149:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged and feel immeasurably loved as they meditate on the fact that God takes pleasure in them.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing.
1 Corinthians 9:23

Ask God to give believers a deep desire to share the gospel with those who don't know the truth about God's redemption plan, and to provide them with opportunities to do so cross-culturally.

Japanese Across Countries (ROP3 - 104189) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

Engaged yet Unreached UUPG No Longer Unreached

CountryReligion

21 people groups

People Group ID	Name	Country	Population	Strategic Progress Index	Language	Religion ▼
PG000488	Japanese	Portugal	700	Unengaged and Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG043417	Japanese	Canada	82,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG043285	Japanese	United States	1,530,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG042427	Japanese	Germany	25,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG042346	Japanese	Spain	2,400	Engaged yet Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG033527	Japanese	Peru	168,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Spanish	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG024840	Japanese	Panama	2,300	No Longer Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG023935	Japanese	Bolivia	21,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Spanish	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG023934	Japanese	Argentina	41,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG022276	Japanese	Dominican Republic	2,300	Unengaged and Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG020241	Japanese	Malaysia	17,000	No Longer Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG018356	Japanese	Micronesia	950	Unengaged and Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG016892	Japanese	Brazil	1,745,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Portuguese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG010707	Japanese	Singapore	43,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG009626	Japanese	New Zealand	21,500	No Longer Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG007938	Japanese	Australia	57,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG007559	Japanese	Japan	119,580,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG007521	Japanese	Taiwan	9,600	Unengaged and Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG007212	Japanese	China	172,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG000167	Japanese	France	24,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Japanese	Shinbutsu-Shugo
PG050602	Japanese	Hong Kong	10,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Japanese	Mahayana Buddhism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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