If you’re living in Japan, chances are, you’re using your mobile phone for literally everything. From grocery-chopping to looking up for a property for sale. This is the kind of frantic wave that is sweeping through the country and some other parts of Europe like UK, Belgium, Sweden and Germany, just to name a few. Here, however, things are a little mellow but quickly catching up.

It’s been months since I last used a QR Code for anything because you can hardly find one here. And when we do, we make a big deal out of it because it’s like finding gold in a sea of sand! Most of us use QR Codes for stuff like surveys, contests, coupons, updating information and, of course, marketing & promotions. It’s the least costly form of advertising, after all.

It’s interesting, though, when I found something on the internet today about the number of people in Japan who uses QR Code-enabled phones everyday. The survey was conducted completely online and participants are equally leveled at 50-50 for female and males. What surprises me, however, wasn’t that four out of five people in Japan uses these phones, it was the demographic.

If you checked out the stats for European countries or Australia, you’ll see that teenagers and cell phone users within the age group of 20 – 30 are the ones who owns QR Code enabled phones. But in Japan, it’s got a whole new interesting twist.

Most of the people who responded belonged to the thirties, forties, fifties and above-sixty age group! The questionnaire attracted a measly 0.03% of teenagers. Apparently, these people found QR Codes very helpful in signing up for mailing lists, newsletters, get discount coupons or enter competitions. It’s far easier with a QR Code compared to, say, logging into a website and clicking your way in the office. The boss might be hovering around nearby on check.

With your cell phone, nothing leaks.

Another interesting fact to tickle your brain with is this – five percent of those who participated in the survey revealed that they do not have a cell phone.