A couple days ago a small opaque box started appearing on my TV screen when I flip on BS-1, BS-2, or BS-Hi. Inside the box is a message telling me to call NHK. The box is big enough to where it makes watching programs pretty crappy. I get these channels through my cable company.

Anyone know what is going on? Are they trying to sucker me into paying the NHK fee bullshit?

I guess I could call and find out but I want to be prepared in advance. Thanks for any tips.

I wish these fuckers would have pulled this crap after baseball season.

Captain Japan wrote:A couple days ago a small opaque box started appearing on my TV screen when I flip on BS-1, BS-2, or BS-Hi.

Say what?
I get BS from my own dish, not the apartment's dish, and there's no gray box in my morning BS-Hi news. Of course as a good FG I never pay NHK. Are you using brand new DIGITAL BS?

Taro Toporific wrote:

Captain Japan wrote:A couple days ago a small opaque box started appearing on my TV screen when I flip on BS-1, BS-2, or BS-Hi.

Say what?
I get BS from my own dish, not the apartment's dish, and there's no gray box in my morning BS-Hi news. Of course as a good FG I never pay NHK. Are you using brand new DIGITAL BS?

I get it through cable. The message mentions something about receiving digital broadcasts and then tells me to call them.

I've only had one visit from the NHK man in my 6-year FG life. He left after I told him I didn't watch TV. And I don't want to start paying these reptiles now.

Captain Japan wrote:I get it through cable. The message mentions something about receiving digital broadcasts and then tells me to call them

BINGO! You're been screwed by the digital upgrade which is NHK's long term plan to force payment.

Taro Toporific wrote:

Captain Japan wrote:I get it through cable. The message mentions something about receiving digital broadcasts and then tells me to call them

BINGO! You're been screwed by the digital upgrade which is NHK's long term plan to force payment.

I'm one of those gullible gaijin who pays NHK regularly, yet like Captain Japan, I'm still getting that black box as well. Why would they do it to me if I've been paying NHK all along like a good little soldier?

kamome wrote:I'm one of those gullible gaijin who pays NHK regularly

SUCKER!!

Taro Toporific wrote:

Captain Japan wrote:I get it through cable. The message mentions something about receiving digital broadcasts and then tells me to call them

BINGO! You're been screwed by the digital upgrade which is NHK's long term plan to force payment.

When the installation guy set up the cable box he installed a special card for this digital nonsense. It was an extra, he said it didn't cost anything. Think this problem will go away if I just remove that card? I don't care if I lose this digital horseshit; I just want BS-1 for the baseball games.

kamome wrote:I'm one of those gullible gaijin who pays NHK regularly, yet like Captain Japan, I'm still getting that black box as well. Why would they do it to me if I've been paying NHK all along like a good little soldier?

NHK wants you to pay more. Yes, to get digital "BS" you have to contact them, register and pay more. Now that's total BS!

Tell them there's a problem with your TV but don't say what. Maybe it's fuzzy or scrambled (tell 'em you can't see the manko clearly!) Then when he gets in your house tell him to get that box off your screen or you'll stomp a mudhole in his bitch ass. Bite his fucking ear off!

[quote="Captain Japan"]
When the installation guy set up the cable box he installed a special card for this digital nonsense. It was an extra, he said it didn't cost anything. Think this problem will go away if I just remove that card? I don't care if I lose this digital horseshit]

On my employer's cable box, you can just pull the card. What is real brand of your cable box, that is, the OEM name?

Anyway... thanks for the reminder: I'll keep my old analog BS/CS tunner around after I upgrade to a new plasma TV.

Taro Toporific wrote:I'll keep my old analog BS/CS tunner around after I upgrade to a new plasma TV.

You need to upgrade to a real DVD player first! :P

Taro Toporific wrote:

Captain Japan wrote:When the installation guy set up the cable box he installed a special card for this digital nonsense. It was an extra, he said it didn't cost anything. Think this problem will go away if I just remove that card? I don't care if I lose this digital horseshit]

On my employer's cable box, you can just pull the card. What is real brand of your cable box, that is, the OEM name?

I don't remember but I think it is a Panasonic of some kind. Kamome, you use ITSCOM as well, right? You know?

I'm going to perform surgery on the sucker tonight. I'll post the results afterwards.

If that doesn't work, I'm going to take AK's suggestion and invite the installation guy over.

Captain Japan wrote:

Taro Toporific wrote:

Captain Japan wrote:When the installation guy set up the cable box he installed a special card for this digital nonsense. It was an extra, he said it didn't cost anything. Think this problem will go away if I just remove that card? I don't care if I lose this digital horseshit]

On my employer's cable box, you can just pull the card. What is real brand of your cable box, that is, the OEM name?

I don't remember but I think it is a Panasonic of some kind. Kamome, you use ITSCOM as well, right? You know?

I'm going to perform surgery on the sucker tonight. I'll post the results afterwards.

If that doesn't work, I'm going to take AK's suggestion and invite the installation guy over.

Yes, I also use ITSCOM, and I do believe it's a Panasonic tuner. I recall that the cable guy just opened a little slot and inserted the digital card in there. Should be pretty easy to remove without major surgery.

Please report the results--especially whether or not you lose any channels when you pull the card and reinsert it.

kamome wrote:

Captain Japan wrote:I'm going to perform surgery on the sucker tonight. I'll post the results afterwards.

...especially whether or not you lose any channels when you pull the card and reinsert it.

Oh no I forgot to say to remember to UNPLUG the cable box first before pulling the card. You wanna reset the thing and hopefully clear its memory of NHK.

I'm sorry to change the topic a little, but last night while watching the bilingual 10pm news, there was a story about the shift from beef to pork at many restaurants. The reporter then headed over to the Canadian embassy to do a report about a pork tasting fair that was held yesterday to help promote Canadian pork in Japan. Then suddenly for some reason the reporter said, but remember Canada was the country where the BSE cow came from. Now, if I was a member of the Canadian Embassy or one of the reps trying to push pork in Japan, I would be pretty pissed about a comment like that. My wife(Japanese) said she thought a lot of other Japanese would take that comment to mean, perhaps Canadian pork was not too healthy either. God, I didn't think I was such a patriot, but dammit, don't critcize my pork!
ps I called NHK and asked about it and the lady I spoke to questioned me about why I was calling and did I hear correctly. Nice!!

Americans can pork better then america jr. ...err..oh wait, your talking about food....nevermind.

Captain Japan wrote:I'm going to perform surgery on the sucker tonight. I'll post the results afterwards.

Ok, I think it worked. I removed the red card. There are two. With the red card removed a different box appeared on the screen that indicated that I should insert the red card because NHK is going to start their digital broadcasting in April or some such horseshit. But that box went away after a minute or so. As of now I am cautiously claiming victory.

Thank you all for your help.

I haven't touched my set-top box, but I checked BS 1 and 2 this morning, and there was no black box. It just disappeared on its own.

Captain, this means your surgical skills may not have been the reason for the disappearing black box. We'll have to keep checking. NHK may revisit our TV's next month.

kamome wrote:I haven't touched my set-top box, but I checked BS 1 and 2 this morning, and there was no black box. It just disappeared on its own.

Captain, this means your surgical skills may not have been the reason for the disappearing black box. We'll have to keep checking. NHK may revisit our TV's next month.

Interesting. Last night just before I pulled that red card the box was on the screen. Like I said in my post afterwards, I am only claiming a cautious victory for now.

Captain Japan wrote:... I should insert the red card because NHK is going to start their digital broadcasting in April or some such horseshit. But that box went away after a minute or so. As of now I am cautiously claiming victory..

Now you're good till 2012 when they stop analog broadcasts. Ohhhh Buddha! I pray you all aren't here in 2012.

Taro Toporific wrote:

kamome wrote:I'm one of those gullible gaijin who pays NHK regularly, yet like Captain Japan, I'm still getting that black box as well. Why would they do it to me if I've been paying NHK all along like a good little soldier?

NHK wants you to pay more. Yes, to get digital "BS" you have to contact them, register and pay more. Now that's total BS!

TokyoNow: TV viewers not happy with digital copy controlKyodo - Thursday May 20 7:46 AM SGT
The steps taken by NHK and private TV broadcasting companies to control copying of digital television programs are drawing a flood of inquiries and complaints from TV users, with some saying they have been deprived of the pleasure of freely editing images.
On April 5, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) and the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan began airing their programs with a special transmission signal that enables only a single, nonrecordable copy of the program to be made.
The move has made it necessary for viewers to insert a special card into their digital TV sets to watch or record digital content. ...
No wonder that in the week after the measure was implemented, NHK and the grouping of private broadcasters were inundated with more than 15,000 inquiries and complaints about the complicated scheme.
With the Athens Olympics coming up, mass retailers of home electronics appliances are stepping up their sales pitch for large-screen digital TVs.
In the TV corner of Bic Camera's Yurakucho outlet in downtown Tokyo, notices on the duplication control are posted everywhere.


JUST SAY NO TO NHK's DIGITAL BS!
If there isn't some killer, must-have feature that you need use, stay with the older style TV. A couple years ago I got one of the last analog, 40-inch, HiVision TVs made. Now find I've got one of the few TVs with all the SVideo out and optical stereo out for contecting to my computer.

canman1 wrote:ps I called NHK and asked about it and the lady I spoke to questioned me about why I was calling and did I hear correctly. Nice!!

When I finally felt guilty enough to answer the doorbell for the NHK guy last week and pay him, part of my justification was that I would feel much more free to call NHK and complain about shoddy news coverage, since I am now a paying customer.

Going back to the technical topic from months ago... having recently gone digital (ITSCOM here too), I got the annoying "call NHK" box last week. It does not appear to be directly tied to paying them; Mrs. Omae Mona called up and they simply asked for the card ID# plus our address & phone. Maybe that means subsequently they'll check their database and pester us if they find we haven't paid. But since I paid (doh!), I'll probably never know.

I'm having fun with all these new channels. Once I realized that simply changing to a component video cable doubled the resolution, I realized terrestrial digital hivision broadcasts (chijou) are great. I can see the same idiotic programs as before, but now I can also see the drops of sweat and wrinkles on people's faces. And BS digital gives me access to all the shows that were too stupid to even make it to the main channels! Woohoo!

omae mona wrote:

canman1 wrote:ps I called NHK and asked about it and the lady I spoke to questioned me about why I was calling and did I hear correctly. Nice!!

When I finally felt guilty enough to answer the doorbell for the NHK guy last week and pay him, part of my justification was that I would feel much more free to call NHK and complain about shoddy news coverage, since I am now a paying customer.

Going back to the technical topic from months ago... having recently gone digital (ITSCOM here too), I got the annoying "call NHK" box last week. It does not appear to be directly tied to paying them]

The NHK prick came calling last night. He wanted something like 2800 yen for two months. I told him I never watch NHK programs and won't pay. But he said that since I have ITSCOM I have to pay by law. (He showed me a brochure that referenced some law from the '50s that says something to the effect that owning a TV in Japan requires paying the NHK horseshit fee.)

For about 10 minutes we went back and forth about the law, the quality of the programming, and whether/if/why I should pay. After he found out that I'm American he was certain that I had to be watching the baseball broadcasts. I hate baseball, I said. Then he mentioned something about the police getting involved if I didn't pay. I strongly enouraged him to go get them, anything to get him out of my entryway so I could close the door. Finally, he said he would go back to his office and get some kind of official paper from his superior demanding that I pay. He's coming back tonight. And I ain't answering.

But seriously, how can ITSCOM legally reveal to the NHK asses who their subscribers are? This clown repeated (after each of my refusals) that since I subscribe to ITSCOM I must be receiving NHK programming and must pay. I should just cancel their service. What a fucking pain.

Captain Japan wrote:But seriously, how can ITSCOM legally reveal to the NHK asses who their subscribers are? This clown repeated (after each of my refusals) that since I subscribe to ITSCOM I must be receiving NHK programming and must pay. I should just cancel their service. What a fucking pain.

"Shouldn't the NHK fee be included in ITSCOM.. That would seem practical, since you get NHK when you sign up for ITSCOM.. Tell him to collect from ITSCOM!

GJ

GuyJean wrote:

Captain Japan wrote:But seriously, how can ITSCOM legally reveal to the NHK asses who their subscribers are? This clown repeated (after each of my refusals) that since I subscribe to ITSCOM I must be receiving NHK programming and must pay. I should just cancel their service. What a fucking pain.

"Shouldn't the NHK fee be included in ITSCOM.. That would seem practical, since you get NHK when you sign up for ITSCOM.. Tell him to collect from ITSCOM!

GJ

In the sign-up info ITSCOM clearly states that their fees do not include the NHK nonsense. I figured that'd be great since the NHK man never bothered me before. Now I have come to realize that ITSCOM is NHK's little snitch.

Captain Japan wrote:In the sign-up info ITSCOM clearly states that their fees do not include the NHK nonsense. I figured that'd be great since the NHK man never bothered me before. Now I have come to realize that ITSCOM is NHK's little snitch.

Tell ITSCOM to remove the NHK channels. And if they can't, recommend NHK's fees should be included in the total package.

GJ

Captain Japan wrote:..This clown repeated (after each of my refusals) that since I subscribe to ITSCOM I must be receiving NHK programming and must pay. I should just cancel their service. What a fucking pain.

Oh, he'll run away and won't be back. Whenever the NHK guys "lose it" they are too ashamed to come back.

If ITSCOM pulls the plug on you or you cancel, you can get a 12cm SkyPerfect micro-dish. The programming and price is about the same.

The "police" will NOT get involved because there is no enforcement clause or "proof" of your NHK use. If a cop (school buddy or relative of the NHK guy no doubt) did show up you could make it into a CAPTAIN JAPAN story. :P Really, from on now keep a disposible flash camera in your genkan and take pix of the NHK guy (taking pix always drives 'em away).

--taro, who-has-not-paid-NHK-in-22-years-and-never-will-until-they-digital-block-all-my-signals

I was just on a quick 10 minute break from work and flipping channels, passed NHK kyoiku. It was an English-learning show, and they were featuring a gaijin with bright purple hair teaching the key English phrase of the day. And he was repeating it ad infinitum:

"It doesn't take much time to do one sheep."
"It doesn't take much time to do one sheep."
"It doesn't take much time to do one sheep."

(I kid you not). Needless to say, I did not stay tuned for what surely would have been a stunning climax..

But that's where your NHK money would go!

omae mona's NHK engrish lesson wrote:
"It doesn't take much time to do one sheep."
"It doesn't take much time to do one sheep."
"It doesn't take much time to do one sheep."!

And NHK'S lines before and after were......
The streets are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And "It doesn't take much time to do one sheep."
It doesn't take much time to do one sheep.

My Jcom technician actually recommended to me that I don't pay NHK. He said they would come around but just ignore them.