Recent updates in the Joshua Project database make it possible to do searches based on languages and not just on people groups. You may be surprised when you see which language is least reached with the Gospel.

It is namely Japanese that is at the very top of the list showing the biggest unreached languages. According to the American based statistical center it is today 128 million people who speak Japanese. Of these only 0.3 per cent can be regarded as evangelical believers. If you count all denominations 1.5 per cent of those speaking Japanese can be regarded as Christians.

Openness

– Many things are happening in Japan, and there is a great openness for speaking about Jesus. Still it is right to regard the Japanese as an unreached people group, says Akira Mori, who is working to reach the people of the Asiatic island-nation with the Gospel.

The first protestant missionaries came to Japan more than 150 years ago. The spiritual harvest this far has been rather poor and no one has really succeeded in finding the key that can open the Japanese hearts for the Gospel. Akira Muri says many people in Japan are vaccinated against everything that tastes of religion. He thinks relationship-based fellowships meeting in the homes is a model that can work.

– There is a growing movement of such fellowships in Japan. Many people are seeking to find true faith and a living God. They want to experience that God is real. The small fellowships provide arenas where this can happen.