The Japanese of Dominican Republic

The Japanese of Dominican Republic, numbering approximately 2,300 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are 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 mostly adhere to Shinbutsu-Shugo and Japanese is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Japanese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: Dominican Republic
People Cluster: Japanese
Primary Language(s): Japanese (jpn)
Primary Religion(s): Shinbutsu-Shugo
Population: 2,300
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022276

Pray for the Japanese of Dominican Republic

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shinbutsu-Shugo
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

90%
%
Shinbutsu-Shugo Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Japanese
Language Family: Japonic

100%
%
Japanese Speakers

Media Resources in Japanese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Japanese:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Japanese Contemporary Bible✓

1 entry

Or check out the Japanese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% 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 Dominican Republic

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
readExodus 2:23-24

As the lost among them labor, groan, and cry out under false religions and sin, pray God will have mercy on them and hear their cries, that He will be their Rescuer from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."
readJohn 6:35

Pray that the lost will come to Jesus and believe in Him, never to hunger or thirst again.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
readPsalm 51:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Him, and God will help them to proclaim His praise and declare His goodness all day long.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
readPsalm 34:3

Pray that God will raise up believers who will go to those in this people group who do not yet follow Jesus, and that they will invite many to magnify the Lord with them so that His fame will spread to the ends of the earth.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

21 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
JapaneseJapaneseJapan119,530,000Engaged yet UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseBrazil1,750,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseUnited States1,530,000Engaged yet UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseChina172,000Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapanesePeru168,000Engaged yet UnreachedSpanishShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseCanada82,500Engaged yet UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseAustralia57,500Engaged yet UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseSingapore43,000Engaged yet UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseArgentina41,000Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseGermany25,000Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseFrance24,500Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseNew Zealand21,500No Longer UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseBolivia21,000Unengaged and UnreachedSpanishShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseMalaysia17,000No Longer UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseHong Kong10,000Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseMahayana Buddhism
JapaneseJapaneseTaiwan9,600Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseSpain2,400Engaged yet UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapanesePanama2,300No Longer UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseDominican Republic2,300Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseMicronesia950Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapanesePortugal700Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo

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

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