Holy crumb!

NHK spends a massive 76.9 billion yen per year on its fee collection system, which equates to some 12.4 percent of the national broadcaster annual operating income. Satoru Matsubara, professor at Toyo University, recently described the amount spent on collection as "abnormal."

NHK says 17.1 billion yen goes to the salaries of the 1,259 NHK employees involved in the fee collection operation (NHK has 11,642 employees in total). Another 10 million yen is lost to depreciation.

But the vast majority, 59.7 billion yen, is used on commissioning 5700 external "NHK collectors" -- who conduct the door to door operations -- and various companies to perform the fee collection task. The collectors' average yearly wage is approximately 5 million yen, although this can vary widely according to individual achievement.

Now, with respect to the hardy souls that perform this task, 5 million yen is an exceptional salary for this type of job. In fact, it's more than many jobs that require four-year university degrees.
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So if I understand this correctly, all the money the company collects goes to the man who collects the money to begin with? This is absolute insanity! And almost 50,000USD a year - not a bad salary at all...I must say, it's quite an insult to those with master's degrees and make much less.

For those of you who have never had the 'fortunate' experience of meeting the NHK man, I will briefly describe what he does. He goes door to door collecting NHK fees (about 150USD a year or 250USD for satellite broadcasting) and if you turn him down, he will be back a month later. My solution? Never open the door.

Why in such modern times does NHK need to use such an archaic system? It is utter nonsense if you ask me. In recent years NHK has been plagued with scandals involving misappropriated funds, NHK employees swindling money, and more. Hmm, and NHK wonders why people are unwilling to pay?! The non-payment rate is said to be around 30%. 1 out of 3 Japanese do not pay it - now that, my friend, has got to tell you something.