NHK fee (受信料) for foreigners: do you have to pay?

The NHK fee (受信料, jushinryō) applies to foreigners the same way it applies to Japanese residents: if your household has a TV or other device that can receive NHK, or you start using NHK’s streaming service NHK ONE, you must sign a contract. As of October 2026 it costs ¥1,100 a month for a terrestrial contract and ¥1,950 for satellite. Visa type and PR status don’t matter. Owning only a smartphone doesn’t count, students often qualify for a full exemption, and you must cancel when you leave Japan.

Do foreigners have to pay the NHK fee?

Yes, if the rule applies to you. Article 64 of the Broadcast Act (放送法) says anyone who installs a device that can receive NHK, or starts receiving NHK’s online service, must sign a receiving contract (受信契約) with NHK. The law makes no exception for nationality. NHK’s own English page says the contract is required “regardless of nationality”.

The contract is per household (世帯), not per TV. One person living alone counts as a household. Two TVs in one apartment still need only one contract.

You need a contract if you have:

• a TV, or a PC or car navigation system with a TV tuner
• a smartphone with a One Seg TV tuner
• started using NHK ONE (website or app) after its confirmation step

You don’t need one for:

• a smartphone or PC alone, with no TV tuner and no NHK ONE use
• a radio only
• NHK WORLD-JAPAN, NHK’s English international service

How much is the NHK fee?

These are the amounts in NHK’s receiving contract terms (受信規約), in force since 1 October 2025, tax included. They were cut in October 2023: terrestrial from ¥1,225 to ¥1,100 a month, satellite from ¥2,170 to ¥1,950.

Okinawa has lower rates, for example ¥965 a month for terrestrial. NHK’s terms say a satellite-capable TV means a satellite contract, even if you also use NHK ONE.

You pay every two months or prepay 6 or 12 months. Prepaying saves 4.4% or 7.0%. You can pay by Japanese bank account transfer (口座振替), credit card, or payment slip at a bank, post office or convenience store.

Is the NHK fee different for students?

Being an international student doesn’t exempt you by itself, but you may qualify for NHK’s student exemption (学生免除). It covers students at universities, junior colleges and vocational schools (専門学校) with courses of one year or longer who live away from their parents’ home. The exemption is full: you pay nothing.

You need your student ID plus proof of one of these (NHK lists a few more routes):

• your own income last year was ¥1.87 million or less (a 市町村民税非課税（課税）証明書 from your city office)
• you receive a scholarship (奨学生証)
• you are 20 or older and have the national pension student payment special rule (学生納付特例)
• your tuition is exempted
• you are a dependent on a family member’s employee health insurance

If you are on National Health Insurance (国民健康保険), the dependent route doesn’t work, because National Health Insurance has no dependents. NHK tells you to use the income or another route instead. You first sign a normal contract, then apply for the exemption online. If you don’t qualify, NHK’s family discount (家族割引) halves the fee for a student whose family already has a contract, but that only helps if your family holds an NHK contract in Japan.

What happens if you don’t sign an NHK contract?

Since 1 April 2023, NHK can charge a surcharge (割増金). The deadline to apply is the end of the month after next from when you installed a TV or started NHK ONE. A TV set up in April, for example, has a deadline of the end of June.

If you miss it without good reason, NHK can bill the fees you owed plus twice that amount as a surcharge, counting only months from April 2023. The same surcharge applies to a false cancellation or exemption claim. NHK says it doesn’t charge the surcharge automatically and looks at each case. It gives disasters and sudden illness as examples of good reasons.

How do I cancel the NHK fee when I leave Japan?

Moving abroad (海外転居) is one of the reasons NHK lists for ending a contract. So is getting rid of every TV. You pay up to the month before NHK accepts the cancellation, and anything already paid for that month or later is refunded. NHK first checks the facts, so call well before you leave.

Don’t rely on deleting the NHK ONE app or account: NHK says that alone does not cancel the contract. A false cancellation can bring the same 2x surcharge. NHK’s cancellation line doesn’t advertise English support, and a research institute’s guide for foreign staff lists the NHK number it gives for cancellation as Japanese only, so ask a Japanese-speaking friend or your employer to help with the call if you need to.

Close your NHK bank transfer or card payment only after NHK confirms the cancellation. Add it to your leaving Japan checklist next to your phone and internet contracts.

More guides

• Setting up a line first: SIM cards for foreigners in Japan
• Fiber and pocket Wi-Fi in English: home internet for foreigners
• Paying by bank transfer: bank accounts for foreigners in Japan
• Furnished rooms in Tokyo: share houses in Tokyo compared