10/6/2006

Damn! All television viewers in Japan are “asked” to pay a monthly fee for NHK (Japanese Public Television) services, but but foreigners just ignored it because there was no penality for not paying till now….

NHK to press for subscription fee payments through summary court
japan today > japan > national Friday, October 6, 2006 at 05:00 EDT
TOKYO —NHK Chairman Genichi Hashimoto said Thursday that people who refuse to pay their viewer subscription fees will be pressed for payment through summary courts if they fail to pay by the end of this month…. Viewers’ property may be seized if they do not follow summary courts’ demand for payment.

The deal is that because of the fraud and money scandals of NHK Company, many Japanese people are very angry and stopped paying their fees. The national broadcaster—think of it as Stalinist/JapanInc version of the BBC—was fast going bankrupt. So now NHK is going to start busting down door and forcing people to pay.

NHK service fees: 14,910 yen to 40,430 yen per year ($127 to $343 USD)