Japanese Television: NHK, Five Networks, and the Reception Fee

NHK and Five Commercial Networks: How the Media Landscape Is Divided

Japanese television is divided between the public broadcaster NHK (日本放送協会) and five commercial key networks in Tokyo — Nippon TV, TV Asahi, TBS, TV Tokyo, and Fuji TV. Local stations across the country broadcast programs from one of these networks and together with it form a single broadcasting network. Four of the five networks have strong financial ties to one of the national newspapers. Nippon TV is tied to the Yomiuri Shimbun, TV Asahi to the Asahi Shimbun, TV Tokyo to the Nikkei, and Fuji TV to the Sankei Shimbun. TBS once had such a tie with the Mainichi Shimbun — the newspaper was for a long time the network's largest shareholder, but due to its own financial difficulties it sold off its stake, and today TBS has almost no such financial connection left.

Why Every TV Network Has Its Own Newspaper

This connection is not a coincidence but the result of cross-ownership: newspapers were there at the origins of television broadcasting and invested in new stations, gaining a share and a seat on the board, and in return provided the TV network with a ready-made newsroom and a recognizable brand.

NHK Subscription Fee: For the Receiver, Not for Watching

The obligation to conclude a contract with NHK is set out in Article 64, Paragraph 1 of the Broadcast Act (放送法). It applies to anyone who installs receiving equipment capable of receiving NHK's signal — regardless of whether they actually watch NHK. The fee is tied not to watching a particular program but to the very fact of owning a receiver: it funds broadcasting as public infrastructure. As of October 2023, the "terrestrial" rate (地上契約, terrestrial broadcasting only) is 1,100 yen per month — a rate cut of roughly one-tenth by NHK itself, with the change approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

What Exactly the Fee Is For, If You Can Choose Not to Watch

The constitutionality of this obligation was confirmed by the Supreme Court on December 6, 2017: the Grand Bench ruled that Article 64 does not violate property rights or the right to receive information, and that the fee system itself is consistent with the purpose of public broadcasting. As of October 2025, the same contract and the 1,100 yen rate were extended to those who watch NHK only via the internet, without a TV antenna.

放送 — Sending Out into the Airwaves

放 — значение: to release, to let out, to emit — онъёми: ホウ — кунъёми: はな.す、-っぱな.し、はな.つ、はな.れる、こ.く、ほう.る — 8 штрих(ов). 放 — "to release, to emit": this character begins the word 放送, "broadcasting," not the word for "television" — that has its own name, テレビ.

放送 is read hōsō and is made up of 放 — "to release, to emit" — and 送 — "to send, to dispatch": together they mean "broadcasting," that is, sending a signal out into the airwaves. But the device at home is called something else — テレビ (terebi), short for the English word television, so "broadcasting" and "television set" are entirely different words in Japanese, and one cannot be derived from the other.

Why Broadcasting and the Box Itself Have Different Names

テレビ entered the language as a technical borrowing, while 放送 is a native Japanese word for the action itself, broadcasting as such. The same word 放送 is also used for radio broadcasting and for internet streaming, not just for TV airwaves. NHK began regular television broadcasting on February 1, 1953, and on August 28 of that same year the first commercial network — Nippon TV (日本テレビ放送網) — launched its own station.

Write 放 along the guides — the character for "to release," which begins the word 放送, "broadcasting."

Variety Shows, Dramas, and "Kōhaku" on December 31

Japanese television relies on several enduring genres. Variety shows (バラエティ) are noisy studio programs with hosts and guests, dramas (ドラマ) are single-season series, and there are also almost endless food programs — from restaurant reports to cooking competitions. Almost all five commercial networks mix them into their schedules, while NHK keeps its own formats — above all documentaries and historical programs.

What People Watch on New Year's Eve

On December 31, almost the whole country watches one program — "NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen" (紅白歌合戦), a musical competition between a female and a male team of performers. The program began as a New Year's radio broadcast in 1951 and moved to television and to the evening of December 31 along with NHK — after it began regular television broadcasting in 1953. In summer, Nippon TV puts on an event of comparable scale — the charity marathon "24-Hour Television" (24時間テレビ), which has been running since 1978.

FAQ

How is Japanese television structured?

Japanese television is divided between the public broadcaster NHK and five commercial key networks in Tokyo — Nippon TV, TV Asahi, TBS, TV Tokyo, and Fuji TV. Local stations across the country broadcast programs from one of these networks, and most networks have strong financial ties to one of the national newspapers — for example, Fuji TV with the Sankei Shimbun.

What is NHK and why do people pay it a subscription fee?

NHK (日本放送協会) is a public broadcasting corporation; the obligation to conclude a contract with it is set out in Article 64 of the Broadcast Act for anyone who installs receiving equipment, regardless of whether they actually watch NHK. The fee funds broadcasting as public infrastructure, not a particular program watched; as of October 2023, the "terrestrial" rate is 1,100 yen per month.

How do you say "television" in Japanese?

The device itself in Japanese is テレビ (terebi), short for the English word television, not from 放送 (hōsō), which refers to broadcasting as a process. So "television set" and "television broadcasting" are entirely different words: one refers to the object in the room, the other to the signal itself in the airwaves, whether radio, television, or internet streaming.

How many national TV channels are there in Japan?

There are six national key networks: the public broadcaster NHK and five commercial ones — Nippon TV, TV Asahi, TBS, TV Tokyo, and Fuji TV. Local stations across the country broadcast programs from one of the five commercial networks and together with it form a common broadcasting network, so all six are available in most regions.

What is on Japanese television on December 31?

On December 31, almost the whole country watches "NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen" (紅白歌合戦) — a musical competition between a female and a male team of performers. The program began as a New Year's radio broadcast in 1951 and moved to television and to the evening of December 31 along with the start of NHK's regular television broadcasting in 1953. In summer, a similar scale is reached by Nippon TV's charity marathon "24-Hour Television," which has been running since 1978.

When did television broadcasting begin in Japan?

Regular television broadcasting in Japan began on February 1, 1953, when the public broadcaster NHK launched it. The country's first commercial station — Nippon TV (日本テレビ放送網) — began broadcasting on August 28 of the same year: NHK beat it because it used mostly domestic equipment, while the commercial network waited for shipments from the US.

Sources

• Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications: Revision of NHK Reception Regulations
• ja.wikipedia.org: Article "NHK Reception Fee"
• Kotobank: Dictionary Entry 放送