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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Ryukyuan of Japan

The Ryukyuan of Japan, numbering approximately 951,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are the indigenous peoples of the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa, Amami, Miyako, Yaeyama, and Yonaguni. They are an Indigenous people in the Japanese people cluster of the East Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Okinawan, Central and their primary religion is Shinbutsu-Shugo.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Central Okinawan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: Japan
People Cluster: Japanese
Primary Language(s): Okinawan, Central (ryu)
Primary Religion(s): Shinbutsu-Shugo
Population: 951,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007577
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Pray for the Ryukyuan 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%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Okinawan, Central
Language Family: Japonic

85%
%

Media Resources in Okinawan, Central:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Okinawan, Central:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Okinawan, Central bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), 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): Expanding Unreached People Group, (LPI: 2), 0.5% or Greater but Less than 2% 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 Ryukyuan:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Ryukyuan 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 Ryukyuan:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Ryukyuan 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.

Next steps for the Ryukyuan:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Ryukyuan of Japan

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
readIsaiah 48:11

Pray that those who have been living for their own glory will turn to the One who is worthy of all praise and find their true identity in Him.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
readMatthew 24:14

Pray that the gospel of God's kingdom will reach more people and that they will respond in faith, becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be humble and give glory to God through their good deeds.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing.
read1 Corinthians 9:23

Ask God to give believers a deep desire to share the gospel with those who don't know the truth about God's redemption plan, and to provide them with opportunities to do so cross-culturally.

Ryukyuan Across Countries (ROP3 - 101932) 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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