NHK has resumed door-to-door visits to secure new contracts through an external contractor. Publicly released materials state that the visits will be conducted in parts of Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, with former エヌリンクス affiliates サンジュウナナド and ノービスハイエストサービス serving as contractors.
Following a report by Kyodo News, NHK announced its policy of re-outsourcing door-to-door sales visits to secure new contracts to external corporations. The system discontinued in 2023 is being resumed, but the arrangement is intended to secure new contracts rather than continue visiting households that already have contracts but have unpaid fees.
According to NHK’s publicly released materials, サンジュウナナド and ノービスハイエストサービス are named as the 2 companies contracted to handle contract and fee-collection operations through visits, with the program to be conducted in parts of Osaka and Hyogo prefectures. These companies will once again take on NHK’s contract-acquisition operations through door-to-door sales visits.
サンジュウナナド’s parent company is コレックホールディングス, which holds 100% of the voting rights in サンジュウナナド, and the company traces its roots to the former エヌリンクス. ノービスハイエストサービス is headquartered in Nagoya, and past job postings related to NHK’s contract and fee-collection operations have been cited.
On the financial side, NHK posted a ¥31.8 billion operating deficit for fiscal 2025, with reception fee revenue of ¥585.1 billion and 40.33 million total contracts. To achieve a balanced budget, NHK has indicated that it will cover the shortfall with reserve funds in its fiscal 2026 budget. The decline in the number of contracts following the fee reduction has been cited as a factor, suggesting that the resumption of visits is an attempt not only to cover the deficit but also to find a sales method to offset the decline in contracts.
NHK itself has explained to the Diet that it is reviewing its door-to-door sales operations, with complaints declining and billing and fee collection improving. However, some have pointed out that these measures were insufficient to offset the decline in the number of contracts. The visits are scheduled to be conducted on a trial basis using advance notices together with modest performance-based compensation, but operating conditions, including visiting hours, the number of repeat visits, and the method for evaluating the appropriateness of responses, remain undisclosed.
Overall, the move could reignite residents’ distrust of and opposition to NHK’s past door-to-door sales operations, and could again draw the attention of the government and the public. Attention will focus on how the program operates in practice and whether repeat visits expand.