madphysicist
先輩
- 20 Aug 2015
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- 131
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This isn't a question, I'm just posting this here as it might be relevant for others. If something I say is wrong feel free to correct me.
So an NHK collector came to my door on Sunday and not knowing any better I agreed to pay for 1 month of NHK fees. I'm only staying in Japan for about 1 month for the moment in a weekly mansion type situation. Since I watch NHK programs online a lot I didn't mind that much paying 1 month and I assumed it was the same situation as the UK, that they track you down and fine you if you don't pay for a TV licence. I'm moving to Japan properly in April and I don't want to be on anyone's hit list. By the way, this NHK collector spoke fairly good English, if anyone is thinking "I would just have played the baka gaijin".
Of course AFTER I've handed my card over he explains it's a subscription and I have to call up NHK to cancel. On a tourist visa I can only get a data sim so that's tricky. I also realise after he leaves that he's signed me up for two months at 4,460 yen not one month at 2,230 yen as he said. To be honest I'm still not sure how they subtract the money, one month or two months at a time. And he signed me up for satellite without establishing whether I have satellite channels or not.
Having talked with my friends I realise now that the majority of Japanese people simply avoid paying the NHK fees, and you can discuss the morality of that if you like. But what was more relevant to me was that as someone renting a furnished apartment I have no legal obligation to pay, even if I've signed. The reason being that the wording of the law applies to the person who INSTALLED the TV set. There was actually a case about this recently, see here (only in Japanese):
テレビ付き賃貸住宅、居住者との受信料契約は「無効」:朝日新聞デジタル
【NHK】テレビ付き賃貸物件、支払い義務なし - 時事随想
(it says NHK are continuing to appeal but I couldn't find an article with more recent info)
I told the NHK collector that I was renting from the company for just one month and he was like "yeah most of the people in this building are, they all paid" - I don't know if that was true or not. However if they come to your door you should know not only that they have no right to enter and check if you have a TV etc., but that if you're renting a furnished apartment for a short time you have no legal obligation to pay regardless of what they say. And I'm pretty sure these guys will say just about anything to get you to pay.
I tried borrowing a friend's phone and calling NHK the day after (i.e. yesterday) to cancel, but we just kept getting a message saying too many people are calling, the line is busy. So today I bought some Skype credit, called my bank and they said they would block any payments to NHK. I'll try calling the NHK number again later so I can say I officially notified them, but I don't have the energy right now.
As I said I would not even mind that much paying NHK fees since I must have watched 100s of hours of their programming in figure-skating and dramas, but their underhanded tactics in deceiving short-term visitors are certainly not the greatest publicity for Japan.
So an NHK collector came to my door on Sunday and not knowing any better I agreed to pay for 1 month of NHK fees. I'm only staying in Japan for about 1 month for the moment in a weekly mansion type situation. Since I watch NHK programs online a lot I didn't mind that much paying 1 month and I assumed it was the same situation as the UK, that they track you down and fine you if you don't pay for a TV licence. I'm moving to Japan properly in April and I don't want to be on anyone's hit list. By the way, this NHK collector spoke fairly good English, if anyone is thinking "I would just have played the baka gaijin".
Of course AFTER I've handed my card over he explains it's a subscription and I have to call up NHK to cancel. On a tourist visa I can only get a data sim so that's tricky. I also realise after he leaves that he's signed me up for two months at 4,460 yen not one month at 2,230 yen as he said. To be honest I'm still not sure how they subtract the money, one month or two months at a time. And he signed me up for satellite without establishing whether I have satellite channels or not.
Having talked with my friends I realise now that the majority of Japanese people simply avoid paying the NHK fees, and you can discuss the morality of that if you like. But what was more relevant to me was that as someone renting a furnished apartment I have no legal obligation to pay, even if I've signed. The reason being that the wording of the law applies to the person who INSTALLED the TV set. There was actually a case about this recently, see here (only in Japanese):
テレビ付き賃貸住宅、居住者との受信料契約は「無効」:朝日新聞デジタル
【NHK】テレビ付き賃貸物件、支払い義務なし - 時事随想
(it says NHK are continuing to appeal but I couldn't find an article with more recent info)
I told the NHK collector that I was renting from the company for just one month and he was like "yeah most of the people in this building are, they all paid" - I don't know if that was true or not. However if they come to your door you should know not only that they have no right to enter and check if you have a TV etc., but that if you're renting a furnished apartment for a short time you have no legal obligation to pay regardless of what they say. And I'm pretty sure these guys will say just about anything to get you to pay.
I tried borrowing a friend's phone and calling NHK the day after (i.e. yesterday) to cancel, but we just kept getting a message saying too many people are calling, the line is busy. So today I bought some Skype credit, called my bank and they said they would block any payments to NHK. I'll try calling the NHK number again later so I can say I officially notified them, but I don't have the energy right now.
As I said I would not even mind that much paying NHK fees since I must have watched 100s of hours of their programming in figure-skating and dramas, but their underhanded tactics in deceiving short-term visitors are certainly not the greatest publicity for Japan.
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