IPG Mediabrands' Media in Mind study, reported in Campaign Japan, surveyed 2,400 internet users in the Kanto and Kansai areas of the main island of Honshu and found that 28% of respondents aged between 70 and 74 owned a smartphone, up from 17% in 2015.
And this ownership is helping them become digitally active, even if the smartphone itself is not responsible for all their online activity.
For example, more than half (55%) of men in this age group and more than one third (38%) of women listed online shopping as an area they are now more active in, followed by internet banking (41% and 19% respectively).
More generally online shopping emerged as a prevalent digital activity for all age groups surveyed; 41% reported becoming more engaged in this pursuit.
Japan is also one market where Yahoo holds greater sway than Google: 46% of those surveyed said Yahoo was a site or app they would have difficulty living without, compared to 34% for Google. Monthly active users of Yahoo were up 16% year-on-year to more than 37m.
That said, Google was more among younger Japanese consumers – those aged 15 to 24.
Other applications regarded as indispensable included Line and YouTube. Line was preferred by 15-19 year-olds, while 20-35 year-olds opted for YouTube.
The study further noted that location-based apps, such as those relating to maps and traffic, become important for people aged over 50.
Data sourced from Campaign Asia; additional content by Warc staff