The Vietnamese of Japan

The Vietnamese of Japan, numbering approximately 653,000 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: 653,000
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

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
readJames 2:5

Pray for those living in despair to experience the riches of God's love and the hope of eternal life through faith in Christ.

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
readIsaiah 30:21

As the lost in this people group seek to know the truth of who God is, pray that the Spirit of God will draw them to Himself and guide them in the way they should go.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
readPsalm 89:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will declare and record His faithfulness and love to be passed on from generation to generation.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

24 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
VietnameseVietnameseJapan653,000Engaged 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
VietnameseVietnameseLaos139,000No Longer UnreachedVietnameseEthnoreligion
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
VietnameseVietnameseFrance656,000Engaged yet 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.

Scroll to Top