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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Japanese of Japan

The Japanese of Japan, numbering approximately 119,920,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago. They are an Indigenous people, in the Japanese people cluster of the East Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Shinbutsu-Shugo. They primarily speak Japanese.

Japanese in Hong Kong photo
Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Japanese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Japan
People Cluster: Japanese
Primary Language(s): Japanese (jpn)
Primary Religion(s): Shinbutsu-Shugo
Population: 119,920,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007559
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Pray for the Japanese of Japan

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

%
Shinbutsu-Shugo Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Japanese
Language Family: Japonic

%
Japanese Speakers

Media Resources in Japanese:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Japanese:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Japanese bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Japanese

The Japanese are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Japanese

The Japanese are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Japanese

The Japanese are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Japanese of Japan

I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
readIsaiah 42:8

Pray that lost people will turn from worthless idols to worship the one true God, recognizing that He alone is worthy of all glory and praise.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
read1 Timothy 2:5-6

Pray for the truth about Jesus Christ to spread among the lost so that many will accept His ransom for their sin and experience freedom in a relationship with Him.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
readPsalm 32:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that God is their hiding place and that He will preserve them in the midst of trials.

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
readMatthew 6:9b-10

Pray that God will raise up Christians who are driven by a desire to see God's name worshiped, His kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Ask Him to send them to the lost in this people group and sustain them.

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

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

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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