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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 we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Pray for those ensnared by the darkness of this world, that they will recognize the spiritual forces at work and turn to the light of Christ.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
readPsalm 96:8

Pray for people here to humbly give God the glory due His name.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
readColossians 2:6-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be rooted and built up in Him, abounding in thanksgiving for the grace and mercy He has shown them.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
read3 John 1:2

Ask God to grant protection and good health — both physical and spiritual — to those He sends cross-culturally to share the gospel.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▲PopulationStrategic 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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