The Tokyo High Court on Monday overturned a lower court ruling and said the owner of a cellphone with a mobile TV function is obliged to pay the NHK subscription fee.
Under the Broadcast Law, anyone who installs a TV receiver is obliged to sign a contract with NHK regardless of he or she views its programs.
Masanobu Ohashi, a 42-year-old assemblyman in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, claimed the law does not cover cellphones and thus he was not obliged to sign a subscription contract.