When the NHK Man Comes Around...

After 3 years of living at my current residence I finally received a visit from the friendly neighbourhood NHK fee collector. Naturally I ignored the intercom when it buzzed - unless I know who is coming I never answer it, it's an easy way to screen for Mormons, Soka Gakkai and Jehovah's Witnesses - but I later found the pamphlet in my mailbox explaining how I must pay my fees. To be honest, I might watch NHK once a month, at best. I understand it produces a news service at 9pm each night with an English sub-channel for those of us who can't understand Japanese and also that really cool Rube Goldberg show but little else I can think of. Most of the time NHK features shows mainly about rural Japan, Diet debate sessions and rice cultivation. It doesn't get much better on the BS channels either: repeats of what is shown on the main channel plus the occasional episode of Lost or Desperate Housewives are the order of the day.

According to the broadcasting law I am legally bound to enter into a contract with NHK to pay fees if I possess a television capable of receiving NHK's signal:

Article 32 of the Broadcast Law

Any person who has installed receiving equipment capable of receiving the broadcasting provided by NHK shall conclude a contract with NHK with regard to the reception of its broadcasting. However, this shall not apply to those who have installed receiving equipment not intended for the reception of broadcasting, or receiving equipment solely for the reception of radio broadcasting or multiplex broadcasting (broadcasting of voice and other sound transmissions not coming under television broadcasting and multiplex broadcasting classifications).

The funny thing is that the law mentions nothing about money. Until I enter into a contract with them the have no way of legally collecting money from me (as I read it). They may take me to court to force me to enter in to a contract with them though, at which time I will have to start paying. The thing is though I wouldn't mind paying for NHK in the slightest if it were run differently. In Australia I love the ABC and SBS (our two public broadcasters). They derive their operating budgets from taxes and generally produce shows of a high standard that reflect the makeup of the society there. Shows are done in multiple languages and (particularly in the case of SBS) from many perspectives. The ABC struggles at times with impartiality but generally gets it right. More importantly, the broadcasters are largely transparent.

NHK on the other hand expects you to pay a rather hefty sum of money (15490yen for terrestrial services, 26100yen for satellite channels for 12 months) up front for ... what exactly? I work late so I'm never home to catch the news at 9pm and even when I am watching TV I watch cable 9 times out of 10 (the other tenth is when I want to remind myself how dangerously stupid primtetime Japanese television has become). My news comes mainly from CNN and the Sydney Morning Herald and in terms of entertainment I go for Star Channel, Discovery, National Geographic and the History Channel. Nothing is specifically created for the foreign audience. NHK took a step in the right direction by creating a 24-hour English news service to compete with the likes of CNN and BCC World and promptly excluded people in Japan from watching it - dumb. Moreover, if NHK and the Japanese Government were serious about collecting fees they would simply make them a part of our taxes. It is doubtful this will happen though given the amount of people NHK employs to go door-to-door collecting fees. If NHK wishes to continue wasting money doing this they are more than welcome, but they can save some money by simply not ringing my bell.

Boxing

It was that time of year again when the Apollo gym holds its bi-annual boxing tournament. The Apollo is one of the larger gyms in the Osaka area and produces a lot of quality boxers. Thanks to my gym's affliation with the club I was able to score tickets to the event that normally would set me back 10000yen a ticket (about $100). Ever since my granddad took me to my first amateur bout when I was 10 years old I love going to the fights to watch real men test themselves. No bullshit, no preamble - just two guys standing toe to toe to see who can take it and keep on coming. I hope to test myself next in the square ring but for now I am content to just watch.

Uji

It has been an extremely long time since I updated here. I don't imagine anyone has missed me but for the odd passerby I bid you welcome - I took these photos today, just for you. Uji (Kyoto) has always been a special place for me, ever since I came to Japan. It was the first place I ever went to that put me close to the real Japanese environment and demonstrated to me that Japan isn't just one large city of industry. My first trip to Uji was in Decemeber 2003 with some Chinese teachers from work. It was a good time with them and even though we would later have a falling out Uji has always remained a beautiful memory. Today I retraced my steps and reshot some photos I took before. The first time I had been using a Sony Cybershot (worst camera ever to make market release) but today I toted along my trusty Canon S2 Powershot (a little heavy/bulky but damned if it doesn't have the widest range of options). Enjoy!

Himeji

On Monday the girl and I went Himeji for the day. I wanted to see Himeji Castle (the largest and oldest original castle still standing in Japan today) and she wanted to go to Safari Park 40 minutes out of the city. It was a fantastic day if a little cold. We would suffer later with a bad dose of the flu but to finally ascend Himeji Castle and see a tiger a close was a worthy trade off.

Nabe Party

Recently I invited a bunch of people over to my new apartment to repay them for all the parties I've been to and get together one last time before they are blown to four corners of the Earth. It made me realise how difficult it is to organise and excute a meal for more than two people. In the end it went fairly smoothly, not as long as I had hoped but enough to show some measure of hospitality. I won't embarrass anyone by naming them but you know who you are. Thanks again for coming!

Kurama

About two weeks ago now I went to small town near Kyoto City by the name of Kurama. It was listed in my Lonely Planet Hiking Guide (great book for getting you to the hike, fairly useless once you start to actually do it). It was a beautiful day, just before winter had started. As expected though, Kurama was swaming with old people on day tours and I had to spend the entire day on my feet. Worth though to see the famed Tengu and last red autumn leaves of the season.

Indian music festival

The week before last the girlfriend and I went to an Indian music festival in Kyoto. Initially I was a little hesitant because I wouldn't describe sitar as my instrument of choice but I was pleasantly surprised to find the experience relaxing and refreshing. The 'concert' took place in a small temple near downtown Kyoto - I had expected more people to come and a larger setup but in the end fewer than 20 people came and we were entertained by three players with exceptional command over the sitar, electric sitar and drums respectively. Apologies in advance for the quality of the pictures, my camera dislikes lowlight conditions with a passion that borders on religious fervour.

In the meanwhile....

Unfortunately I have been busy recently with work and readying myself to move to a new apartment. It has been a mad few months since my return from Australia, I can no longer remember what my holiday was like. I plan to do some hiking in the next weeks as time permits and I am eagerly awaiting a trip to Kyoto music festival but until then here are some photos my friend took while we were in Australia together - enjoy!

Koyasan

Last week I went to Koyasan for the first time. Koyasan is one of the largest mountain areas in Japan and its reputation is well deserved at nearly 1000m above sea level. Despite the amount of Japanese obaasans and ojisans on the Hankyu package tours it was a great day. It was abut 5 degrees cooler than Osaka and the sun shone all day long. I recommend it to everyone, however, take the train - don't take the bus!

Cairns, Australia

I'm back after 3 weeks. I wasn't quite prepared for the heat but I think I am happy to be back. It was nice to see my students again and of course the girlfriend. Cairns was a little different but still undeniably home. Much as I like Osaka it will never take the place of Cairns in my mind. I took as mmany pictures as my camera could handle (191) to be exact. I won't post them all here but I will show you some that have the best memories attached.

Kyoto & Cars

Last week I went to Kyoto - it was one of those rare days where everything went well and all seemed right in the world. We spent the day walking around Kawaramachi and Gion (central Kyoto). I was a little surprised to see so many foreigners. Travelling to Kyoto always reminds me of my first year in Japan when I would spent nearly every weekend there near Sanjo and the great river that runs through the centre of the city proper. A beautiful place, but it is somewhat spoiled by the huge amount of tourists that pass through there everyday.