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People group profile · PG050668

The Vietnamese of Japan

The Vietnamese of Japan, numbering about 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 are a diaspora people in the Vietnamese people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion, and they primarily speak Vietnamese.

Pray for the VietnamesePrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Vietnamese people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Vietnamese

Fast facts

Country
Japan
Population
653,000
Affinity group
Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
People cluster
Vietnamese
Primary language
Vietnamese (vie)
Primary religion
Ethnoreligion
Strategic Progress Index
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
No Known Evangelicals
GSEC
Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
Lostness priority
Frontier Unreached People Group
Also known as
在日ベトナム人, Zainichi Betonamujin, Kinh
Region
Eastern Asia, Asia
Location
many live in Tokyo, Osaka (especially Ikuno-ku), Yokohama, Kobe (Nagata-ku, Hyogo-ku) and other major urban centers

Where they live

Gospel status

The Vietnamese are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, 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.

  • Congregations exist No
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

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

Primary religion

Ethnoreligion

90% adherents

Primary language

Vietnamese · Austroasiatic family

100% speak Vietnamese

Gospel resources in Vietnamese

Films

Bibles

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Vietnamese

  1. Matthew 9:37–38. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.
  2. 2 Timothy 2:2. Pray for faithful local leaders who will teach others, so that the church multiplies.
  3. Ephesians 5:8. Pray that those walking in darkness will turn to the light and live as children of light.
  4. Romans 10:14–15. Ask God to send messengers, so that people can hear, believe and call on the name of the Lord.

Download a prayer guide

Kinh in other countries

The same people (ROP3 105018) is reported in 23 other countries.

People groupCountryPopulationStatus
VietnameseVietnam85,710,000Engaged yet Unreached
VietnameseUnited States1,605,000Engaged yet Unreached
VietnameseFrance656,000Engaged yet Unreached
VietnameseCambodia534,000Engaged yet Unreached
VietnameseAustralia336,000No Longer Unreached
VietnameseCanada258,000Engaged yet Unreached
VietnameseTaiwan217,000Engaged yet Unreached
VietnameseRussian Federation150,000Engaged yet Unreached
VietnameseLaos139,000No Longer Unreached
VietnameseThailand119,000No Longer Unreached
VietnameseUnited Kingdom100,000Engaged yet Unreached
VietnameseMalaysia85,000No Longer Unreached
VietnameseGermany83,500Engaged yet Unreached
VietnameseCzech Republic60,500Engaged yet Unreached
VietnameseHong Kong46,500Engaged yet Unreached
VietnameseMacao18,500Unengaged and Unreached
VietnameseNetherlands8,800No Longer Unreached
VietnameseNew Zealand4,900No Longer Unreached
VietnameseNew Caledonia4,200Unengaged and Unreached
VietnameseChina2,800Unengaged and Unreached
VietnameseVanuatu500Unengaged and Unreached
VietnameseUzbekistan450Unengaged and Unreached
VietnameseMartinique375Unengaged and Unreached

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