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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Deaf Japanese of Japan

The Deaf Japanese of Japan, numbering approximately 1,210,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a community of individuals who are culturally Deaf and actively participate in Deaf culture, often using sign language as their primary means of communication and can also be known as Deaf/Hearing Impaired. They are an Indigenous people, in the Deaf people cluster of the Deaf Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Shinbutso-shugo. They primarily speak Japanese Sign Language.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Anonymous

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Deaf Peoples
Country: Japan
People Cluster: Deaf
Primary Language(s): Japanese Sign Language (jsl)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Shinbutso-shugo
Population: 1,210,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007570

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Pray for the Deaf Japanese of Japan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Shinbutso-shugo
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - Shinbutso… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Japanese Sign Language
Language Family: Sign Language

%
Japanese Sign Language Speakers

Media Resources in Japanese Sign Language:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Japanese Sign Language:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

View all resources

Next steps for the Deaf Japanese

The Deaf 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 Deaf Japanese

The Deaf 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 Deaf Japanese

The Deaf 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 Deaf Japanese of Japan

And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."
readMark 14:23-24

Pray for those who may have heard the gospel but have not yet submitted their lives to Christ, that they will finally see the sacrifice which He made for them and surrender their lives to Him.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
readActs 13:48-49

Pray that the gospel will spread throughout this whole region and that many will believe and embrace the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
readPsalm 6:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will remind them that He is near and will help them place their hope in Him when others wish to do them harm.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Deaf reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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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