The Japanese of Micronesia

The Japanese of Micronesia, numbering approximately 950 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an East Asian people whose culture reflects the interaction of indigenous traditions, East Asian influences, island geography, and long historical continuity. Their Japanese language serves as one of the strongest markers of national identity. They mostly adhere to Shinbutsu-Shugo and Japanese is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Japanese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: Micronesia
People Cluster: Japanese
Primary Language(s): Japanese (jpn)
Primary Religion(s): Shinbutsu-Shugo
Population: 950
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG018356
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Pray for the Japanese of Micronesia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shinbutsu-Shugo
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

50%
%
Shinbutsu-Shugo Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Japanese
Language Family: Japonic

100%
%
Japanese Speakers

Media Resources in Japanese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Japanese:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Japanese Contemporary Bible✓

1 entry

Or check out the Japanese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% 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 Japanese:
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

Pray specifically for the Japanese of Micronesia

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
read1 John 3:8

Pray for those living in darkness to recognize the destructive power of sin and the victory Christ has won over it.

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
readPsalm 2:10-11

Pray for the rulers and authorities here to seek the Lord and serve Him only. Pray that the people they lead will be amazed by the work of God in their lives.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
readPhilippians 3:20-21

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember their citizenship is in heaven.

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
readIsaiah 40:9

Pray for God to send and sustain believers to go and herald the good news to the lost here.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

21 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
JapaneseJapaneseHong Kong10,000Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseMahayana Buddhism
JapaneseJapaneseCanada82,500Engaged yet UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseUnited States1,530,000Engaged yet UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseGermany25,000Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseSpain2,400Engaged yet UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapanesePeru168,000Engaged yet UnreachedSpanishShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapanesePanama2,300No Longer UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseBolivia21,000Unengaged and UnreachedSpanishShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseArgentina41,000Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseDominican Republic2,300Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseMalaysia17,000No Longer UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseMicronesia950Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseBrazil1,750,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseSingapore43,000Engaged yet UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseNew Zealand21,500No Longer UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseAustralia57,500Engaged yet UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseJapan119,550,000Engaged yet UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseTaiwan9,600Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseChina172,000Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapanesePortugal700Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-Shugo
JapaneseJapaneseFrance24,500Unengaged and UnreachedJapaneseShinbutsu-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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