We just got a letter in the mail from NHK saying that we have to enter into a contract with them. Apparently NHK has strong political connections, and starting last year they are now allowed to start suing anyone who doesn’t sign the contract and pay their fees. UNLESS you don’t have a TV.
I say screw ‘em, say we don’t have a tv, and move on with our lives. Heard horror stories about how they can relentlessly harass you even if you go with the “we don’t have a tv” method. What are y’all’s experiences?
35 comments
> how is everyone handling this?
Not.
Aren’t they also charging people as well if they have a phone? ‘Cause you can still watch NHK if you have a phone, or something like that? lol
We deal with it by not dealing with it lol
Nothing has changed. It was already mandatory. They could already sue in the past.
Repeat after me. “~~Am I being detained offi~~ I don’t have a TV”
If they harass you call the police to have them removed from your property.
>Apparently NHK has strong political connections
Anyone want to tell him the news?
NHK is literally owned by the government.
I seriously don’t have a TV with a tuner, so I can’t even watch TV, but I got harassed and was told that my smartphone has the capability to watch NHK, so I gotta pay. I just always say that I’ll call my lawyer, and they go away.
I pay for NHK, and glad am paying. Contents are really worth it.
Side effect : noone ever comes harassing me.
ugh, terebi tabemasen
I don’t think this is the answer you are looking for, but I just pay them and pretend the price is justified by getting rid of them visiting and annoying me monthly.
They can sue you if you signed a contract but don’t pay. They can’t do anything if you’ve never signed a contract. I keep seeing this story floating around here and in r/japan but it’s not accurate.
Im dealing with it the same way I always do. Never open the door unless Im expecting someone or a package and if by chance they come when I am expecting someone, just mumble nihongo wakaranai and close the door.
My living room is not visible from the genkan and they have not right to enter my apartment so they will never, ever be able to confirm I actually have a TV to be able to sue me.
NHK hasn’t been to my house since December 2021 when I told the guy outside I’d be right there and to hang on a minute and then just took a nap.
I can’t stop laughing seeing the clear evidence of what I’ve been observing for years: Many redditors don’t realize NHK is government owned and funded by legally mandatory payments, just like many other countries. Most of the complaints about NHK fees are based on the misconception that NHK is just a company, trying to trick people into paying out of the goodness of their hearts.
I ate my TV so I don’t have to pay. テレビ食べました
The main reason for doorstep harassment is because those guys are on commission, not because they have a zeal for the wonder programming of NHK. As such, they’ll try anything.
>**if you don’t pay, they can sue you**
Sure, if you sign a contract and then don’t pay according to what it says in the contract. Just like any other contract.
If you don’t sign up in the first place then they can (and have) sue people to force them into contracts. **But**, based on the data I can find we’re talking literally a few hundred households out of a country of what…. 130m people?
The chances of them suing you is miniscule assuming they have nothing to use against you in court. I doubt refusing the open the door or saying “no thank you” at the door by itself is enough for them to build a legal case against you. [Source: *if that were enough we’d see tens of millions of court cases by now*].
The changes coming into effect don’t seem to *really* change anything. They can already sue people for not signing up (in extreme cases, it seems) so no change there. The whole thing about them charging you an extra penalty for signing up “late” is irrelevant if you never engage with them in the first place.
Therefore, tale as old as time (beauty and the beast), just don’t engage with NHK salespeople (*they are salespeople, nothing more nothing less*) if you don’t want to. They don’t have a right to harass you at your door.
How much is the fee?
Avoiding NHK guy is a time honored tradition.
How can you be sued if there is no contract saying you have an obligation to pay? Think.
Also, say you don’t speak Japanese. That’s what I do and they get frustrated and go to the next house. Or just say you don’t have a tv or say you don’t watch tv.
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We need to get an IAMA with and NHK guy up in here.
get a gaming PC and use chromecast or something like that to watch my streaming services? would that work?
I live in the middle of nowhere so they’ve never visited me, but hypothetically if they did I just wouldn’t open the door after seeing a stranger in my doorbell camera when I didn’t order a package. That, or just say I don’t own a TV. I do technically but it doesnt get any satellite broadcasts and I just use it for playing video games and streaming Netflix from my laptop. I’m not going to pay for something I don’t use, especially if its over 1000yen a month. No thanks. And before anyone comes for me for not paying and “this is why they don’t like foreigners” — oh please, I have several Japanese friends that actively watch NHK and have it connected and refuse to pay for it. Most young people are definitely not paying for it.
seriously this is happening in jp for having a tv?
The same way as before. I don’t pay it.
Did it actually have your name on it or was it a junk mailer. Because 99% of the time these are junk mailers by the guys who work on commission fishing for commissions.
I removed the aerial from my roof and all the cabling. That shut the guy up.
Nothing has changed at all.
Simply hit them with the, “I don’t have a TV” and there’s absolutely nothing they can do. They can’t come into your home. Just don’t answer the door to anyone unless it’s police/emergency services or a delivery person.
If you answer, say you don’t have a TV and close the door.
Problem solved.
just don’t own a TV? There are literally many other ways to watch TV for free, welcome to the internet and download what you want…
Newbies discovering they have to pay NHK fees and thinking this is news to everyone else is just one of the cutest things out there.
If they come knocking I’ll invite them in and drill a hole in my TV where the tuner is right before their eyes. They can make the fees part of taxes or just bump everyone’s taxes slightly. No one will notice. This contracting thing is nuts and a waste of time, money, and manpower.
If you got eyeballs capable of consuming NHK content you are on the hook. 🪝
I guess it is the same one, I got this time with already your addresss printed on it. A few years ago they just send a normal letter now they doing this kind of bs. They even tell a lie, that if you have an antenna for satelitte, you need to make the more expensive contract and they do not even tell about the fact, that you need in fact a device, which can receive the signal. If you just have the antenna and no device than up until you do not buy it and do not make a contract o your own with NHK they cannot charge you anything.
Even if NHK says it is a 刑事罰 (keijibatsu, criminal punishiment) if you do not pay it is in fact no criminal punishment. If you do have a contract and you do not pay than it can happen, that they sue you or have you let you pay all at once or can take other measures to get it: [https://www.nhk.or.jp/faq-corner/2jushinryou/01/02-01-05.html](https://www.nhk.or.jp/faq-corner/2jushinryou/01/02-01-05.html)
Check the law: [https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/document?lawid=325AC0000000132](https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/document?lawid=325AC0000000132)
Anyway, I do not have a TV for over 6 years now for having to pay, which is a law made too far away and because NHK cannot make any technical adjustments to only have paid users see NHK and I am happy to not pay for NHK. If they would offer the same variaty of content as in a few European country with the same quality it would be worth to have a TV again but until than it isa nope for me. If they come I will tell them I have no TV and of course they have no right to come into your home. Even than they will harrass you, which happens a few times around 6-4 years ago. I got the number of the agency they used and complained to them and told them I will sue them if they not stop to come (I am not American, who just thinks to just do so casually), as I had no TV that time and when my wife answered the door they told her they are from some local newspaer or so and want to talk about NHK.
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As others said, check out the NHK党 (NHK tou, Anti NHK party), if you have already a contract and failed to pay or do not want to pay, send them the pay slip:
[https://nhk-no.jp/column/reception-fee/20230120/](https://nhk-no.jp/column/reception-fee/20230120/)
They even have an app, that if you install it they will pay for all fees coming up in case you are sued: [https://app.nhk-no.jp/](https://app.nhk-no.jp/)
NHK rocked up to my house. They demanded their vig. I say that we don’t have a TV. The guy points to my TV which was clearly visible. I say, “That’s a computer screen.” Done.
If it was really mandatory, they wouldn’t need someone to knock at your door desperately to get the money
When the NHK guy came to my door, I told him (honestly) that I didn’t have a TV. He was slightly incredulous but I was like “it’s all in Japanese, so why would I watch it?” and he went “Ahhhh” and peaced out. Never came back the rest of the three years I lived in that flat.