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The Northern Amami-Oshima of Japan

The Northern Amami-Oshima of Japan, numbering approximately 73,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Ryukyuan community of northern Amami Oshima in Japan's Amami Islands, distinguished by a linguistically distinct Japonic dialect now spoken mainly by elders as younger generations shift to Japanese-accented regional speech. They mostly adhere to Shinbutsu-Shugo and Northern Amami-Oshima is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Northern Amami-Oshima

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: Japan
People Cluster: Japanese
Primary Language(s): Northern Amami-Oshima (ryn)
Primary Religion(s): Shinbutsu-Shugo
Population: 73,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007574
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Pray for the Northern Amami-Oshima 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

95%
%
Shinbutsu-Shugo Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Amami-Oshima
Language Family: Japonic

85%
%
Amami-Oshima, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Amami-Oshima:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Northern Amami-Oshima:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Northern Amami-Oshima bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Northern Amami-Oshima 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.

Next steps for the Northern Amami-Oshima:
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

Pray specifically for the Northern Amami-Oshima of Japan

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

"O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me."
readJohn 17:25

Pray that the lost will come to know the Father and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, and that they will be filled with His love and grace.

Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
readPsalm 34:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will see themselves as God sees them, with radiant faces and hearts that have been cleansed of all shame.

Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
readPsalm 134:1

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who are in awe of Him and that, in service to Him, they will share the gospel with others so that they too may bless the Lord!

Amami-Oshima, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 107434) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Northern Amami-OshimaPG007574Northern Amami-OshimaJapan73,500Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern Amami-OshimaShinbutsu-Shugo

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 Data Standards section.

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