Tuesday, January 30, 2007

I feel so Japanese...

For the first time ever, the NHK guy just came to visit me!

For those who don't know, NHK is the public broadcaster in Japan.* If you own a TV, you are supposed to pay a monthly fee to NHK, regardless if you watch that channel or not. I think it's like 1,000 yen or something like that (about $10). But they don't send you a bill - they send people around door-to-door, and you are supposed to pay up when they show up. They aren't allowed to enter your apartment; they just ask whether you have a TV, and if you say yes, you have to pay up (just for the month - they don't charge retroactively). So you could lie and say you don't have a TV, and they couldn't do anything (unless they can see it clearly in view, I guess). If you were dishonest enough, which I'm not.

But I, of course, actually *don't* own a TV. "Terebi ga arimasen," I told him in my best Japanese. He thanked me and continued on his way.

Finally, I feel like I'm actually in Japan. It's only taken 6 months... :)

* But the real reason NHK is cool is this.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now I'm jealous! Ugh.

Anonymous said...

The Japanese must be a remarkably honest people, or at least the group that watches the public broadcasting channel.