Japan

Unreached people groups

An overview of the country's people groups, focusing on those who still have little or no access to the gospel in their own language and culture.

Overview

Japan is ethnically homogeneous: about 98% of the population is Japanese. Minority groups include the zainichi Koreans (descendants of forced laborers from the colonial period), the Brazilian nikkei who returned to the country, and the Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido. With 28 population groups classified as unreached by the Joshua Project, Japan shows a pattern of low response to the gospel among the Japanese majority, which numbers more than 125 million people with less than 1% Christians. The Japanese church is small but devoted, and historic Christian communities in Nagasaki keep a heritage of faithfulness that endured centuries of persecution.

In the country i
1,9%Christians
0,4%evangelicals
By population i
98,2%unreached
0,6%significantly reached
  • 120.6M Unreached 98,2%
  • 656K Minimally reached 0,5%
  • 18K Superficially reached 0%
  • 845K Partially reached 0,7%
  • 739K Significantly reached 0,6%
By people groups i
43people groups
28unreached · 65,1%
  • 28 Unreached 65,1%
  • 2 Minimally reached 4,7%
  • 2 Superficially reached 4,7%
  • 6 Partially reached 14%
  • 5 Significantly reached 11,6%

Source of people group data: Joshua Project (joshuaproject.net). Estimates, may vary.

Source: Joshua Project. Estimates, may vary.

Intercede for Japan and its peoples

Every unreached people group is an entire culture still without full access to the gospel. Join in prayer with Christians around the world.

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