The Vietnamese of Japan

The Vietnamese of Japan, numbering approximately 654,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnic Kinh community indigenous to Vietnam. Vietnamese currently form one of the largest and fastest-growing foreign communities in Japan. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Vietnamese is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Vietnamese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Japan
People Cluster: Vietnamese
Primary Language(s): Vietnamese (vie)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 654,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG050668
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Vietnamese 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

90%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Vietnamese
Language Family: Austroasiatic

100%
%

Media Resources in Vietnamese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film

4 films

Bible Resources in Vietnamese:

Or check out the Vietnamese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Vietnamese 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 Vietnamese:
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 Vietnamese of Japan

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
readJohn 3:18

Pray for those who are living under the burden of their sin to believe in Jesus, the only Son of God, and receive freedom.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that the lost will not perish but come to repentance and that God's patience and long-suffering will lead them to salvation.

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
readPsalm 119:9

Pray that as young men place their faith in Jesus, they will walk in purity and live according to God's Word.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
readRomans 12:4-5

Ask God to send believers to people in other cultures and to help them use their gifts in harmony with others so that the body of Christ may be built up.

Kinh Across Countries (ROP3 - 105018) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

24 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
VietnameseVietnameseLaos139,000No Longer UnreachedVietnameseEthnoreligion
VietnameseVietnameseJapan654,000Engaged yet UnreachedVietnameseEthnoreligion
VietnameseVietnameseHong Kong46,500Engaged yet UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseMacao18,500Unengaged and UnreachedVietnameseFolk Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseRussian Federation150,000Engaged yet UnreachedVietnameseAncestor Worship
VietnameseVietnameseTaiwan217,000Engaged yet UnreachedVietnameseAncestor Worship
VietnameseVietnameseMalaysia85,000No Longer UnreachedVietnameseConfucianism
VietnameseVietnameseUnited States1,605,000Engaged yet UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseCanada258,000Engaged yet UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseGermany83,500Engaged yet UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseVietnam85,750,000Engaged yet UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseUzbekistan450Unengaged and UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseFrance656,000Engaged yet UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseNew Zealand4,900No Longer UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseNew Caledonia4,200Unengaged and UnreachedVietnameseRoman Catholicism
VietnameseVietnameseMartinique375Unengaged and UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseVanuatu500Unengaged and UnreachedVietnameseRoman Catholicism
VietnameseVietnameseThailand119,000No Longer UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseCambodia535,000Engaged yet UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseAustralia336,000No Longer UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseChina2,800Unengaged and UnreachedVietnameseAtheism
VietnameseVietnameseCzech Republic60,500Engaged yet UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseUnited Kingdom100,000Engaged yet UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism
VietnameseVietnameseNetherlands8,800No Longer UnreachedVietnameseMahayana Buddhism

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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