NHK fees
 

Like the United Kingdom(England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), If you own a TV set in Japan, whos purpose is to watch televised programmes over the air, by a paid service(Cable and Satellite), then by law YOU DEFINITELY NEED A TV LICENCE!!!!!!!!!! AND PAID EVERY MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the UK, the fine for not obtaining a TV licence or not paying the fee every year as the British law states will be up to 1000 sterling pounds. But in Japan, they're even bigger:

1. Fines from 500M to 1.36B yen
2. Confiscation of the TV set
3. Imprisoment from 15-50 years(Prefecture dependant)

If you don't have it up-to-date, you're watching whilst others pay, and at the same time, RISKING BIG PENALTIES!!!!!!!




"TV Licence evasion: never fair, never right, ALWAYS ILLEGAL"

In the 8 months I've been here I have had no problems. A few months ago a woman knocked at my door, when I answered she said something in Japanese and "NHK". I knew she was there to collect the license money for my television (which I never watch). I pretended not to understand Japanese (not difficult), and after trying her best to explain to me that I was supposed to pay the license fee, she gave up and left. So far she has never come back.

I was not fined, my tv was not confiscated, and I'm not in jail.

What about if the only reason you own a TV is for the sake of playing game systems, or DVD players, etc., and you don't have cable or anything to watch on it?

You didn't understood the 3rd paragraph i wrote

Expect the sufferment someday, for the evasion scheme

You didn't understood the 3rd paragraph i wrote

I lived there for over three years and not once did anyone ask for money from NHK (the government sponsored public stations).

I never had a license to watch TV, either.

Most gaijin I know do this, and not one has ever paid a yen for public TV, nor have they ever been fined.

I would like to see if you can find evidence of anyone ever paying a fine like that.

Yep, I did the same thing. The first year I really was puzzled and wasn't sure what they wanted (but found out later from talking to some friends). The 2nd year I understood enough, but played dumb anyway, and they soon gave up and moved on to the next apartment. No penalties and they never came back.

Interesting...

So how much is the licensing fee?

I've never seen anyone so gung-ho on upholding TV licensing regulations. Maybe you should get a hobby...

BTW, I don't pay my NHK fees! Nor should I, because I don't even watch NHK. The only thing I ever watched on it was the 紅白 on this recent new years eve.

I pretty much only watch NHK - all the other stations are total crap with nothing but "variety" and over-acted "drama"....

NHK Edu and BS Hi FTW.
They actually spend money on making their programming instead of just copying something from somewhere else and letting "talent" in the studio ooh and ahh in the corner of the screen.

We also pay the fees, because we actually think it`s worth it. Just like we don`t complain about paying our taxes, health fees, etc because the services actually outweigh the price.

If you`re selfish though, sure, go ahead. Earn my derision.

Yeah... and? Our TV license pays for the BBC which is arguably the best channel there is. It's only once a year, it's barely anything and you don't pay for every TV in your house. So... it's all good :)

could u be so kind and offer any sources for the info u just posted.

Sorry, I just don't believe in paying for something I don't use. And when I say that, I'm not referring to things such as health insurance and taxes. Those things are IMPORTANT, whether I use them or not. They keep people alive and they keep things like police and roads funded. NHK may be a quality TV station and it may survive on licensing fees, but I don't use it, so I'm not going to fork up ¥15,000 when the NHK man comes by and jams his foot in my doorway to prevent me from closing it (literally!) Furthermore, I don't have an actual TV set, just a TV tuner that's plugged into the side of my laptop, and that wasn't purchased in Japan.

I wasn`t directly referring to you - just the general attitude taken by most foreigners in reference to any sort of fee they may have to pay while in Japan.
If you honestly *never* watch NHK, that`s one thing. But it seems like everyone who says they never watch it actually do on a regular basis...

In all honesty, BBC is far from the best channel availible. Maybe it's because I rarely watch TV as it is, but, it is nothing but crap sitcoms, soap operas, poor attempts at comedy, crap things like "strictly come dancing", very few good movies shown and the only thing reputable about it the BBC is their ability to tell the news.

I paid the fee in my first apt. in Japan because I didn't know any different. When I moved, I put the TV where it couldn't be seen from the door. Sorry, but they're just going to have to try harder. When I watch the news I expect to see more than just endless tinted car windows and building facades.

In your opinion... I rarely watch TV either, but if I do then it's normally BBC. ITV is a chav channel and 4 and 5 aren't much better. There are the vast array of other channels, but to be honest, since I have freeview they are all crap anyway. If I do watch TV, it's the news I watch. If you don't like paying TV license then you don't have to have a TV.

On the licensing fee topic. I am not surprise that they will charge a licensing fee for satellite, but a bit shock for a licensing fee for cable.

I can somewhat understand the need of charging a licensing fee for satellite. Its not something I can easily explain, but it has to do with the "rights" to legally use high power data transmission over the air (via satellite)... its quite common in the telecom industry. Some company suck up on the expense (like radio stations), while others (Cell phone for example) charge something like a system access fee....

licensing fees are not that uncommon in many european countries and the legislation is usually worded the same way. u "need" to pay a license fee if u own a monitor which has the ability to receive visual broadcasting. in simple terms it means that u r required to pay if u own a working tv, it doesn't matter whether u use it or whether or not u r actually watching the channel that receives the fee, in japan NHK. it actually also includes tv-tuner card on computers. now as for tv broadcasting received by mobiles i don't know for certain. it's not yet that common in europe and therefore, as far as i know, mobiles r not included in the legislation.

the license fee also covers the cost of running state-runned, tax-funded radio stations, such as BBC radio or NHK radio, but u don't need to pay for any radio u might own, only for ur visual broadcast receiving monitor.

xpid, i know it has only been a day or two, but could u pls indicate the sources where u found the penalties for not paying the license fee.

was no 1 else left scratching their head at why an 18year lad from puerto rico is so passionate about warning ppl against not payin for ther tv license in japan? :confused: that is so weird to me

You're not alone on that one.

Everyone needs a hobby. Even if it`s one hard for us to understand...

For all we know his dream may be to become an NHK fee collector.

The fee is 4000 yen, but I'm not sure if that is for the month or the year, I don't care to find out one way or the other. I have a slingbox at home in America, so I can watch American cable tv on my pc wherever I can get online.

For those of you who are in Japan and want to do the same thing, you need to find someone in America who has cable and broadband internet. The slingbox is a one-time purchase, and runs from $100 to $250 depending on the version you get. Once hooked up to the broadband modem, you can access the modem from anywhere you can get on the internet. There are no monthly fees, just the initial purchase. Installation is fairly straightforward, just follow the directions on the included cd rom, or download the directions and program from slingbox directly.

Video quality depends on the connection speed. With my fiber-optic internet in Japan, the resolution is excellent.

I hope I speak for more than myself, but I would be pretty anxious about giving money to anyone coming to my front door... You just don't do that.

yeap, the me-gaijin-no-japanese technique always works :)

Do you guys talking about NHK - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ? =o
I have a question: If some people move to Japan they don't know about it need pay fees for NHK They see it to not? Iif what's doing someone not pay NHK fees for they not watch it?

I am pretty sure thats 4000 yen per year.

They never came to my house, so I never paid a fee.

Ah, one of the many reasons I just don't answer my door unless it is a delivery man.