So, NHK is the public broadcast service of Japan. Every households in Japan owning TV set are obligated to pay like 1,100 yen per each set monthly to fund NHK. This is not a big amount but not everyone watches NHK regularly thus, many find the fee very displeasing. Seemingly, Ms. Takaichi, the Prime Minister and the leader of the ruling party, Liberal Democrat Party (LDP), is one of them and made Ms. Kitayama, the Minister of Finance, checking out the financial account of NHK.
Ms. Kitayama found that NHK had 13 affiliates siphoning NHK's budget. In addition, Mr. Yoshimura, the leader of Japan Innovation Party, the coalition Party, expressed his dissatisfaction over the biased news report of NHK. Basically, both coalition parties agreed NHK needed a house cleaning. There is also the speculation of NHK receiving funds from foreign entities.
Then, NHK invited aespa, a Korea based group with a Chinese member, to prestigious Red and White Music Contest (aka Kouhaku) amidst massive Sinophobic sentiment in Japan. This led to a petition with over 100,000 signatures to remove the group from the broadcast. Still, aespa performance continued with the Chinese member on the bench under coincidental illness.
And, this very performance aggravated the wrath further. Somehow, aespa was scheduled to perform "Whiplash" at 8:15, the same time USA dropped atomic bomb on Hiroshima on the very year of 80th year after that event. Only this fact would not make much of the outcry if the lyric of the song did not include words like "big flash", "shine red light". Many of the Japanese, including 2 show hosts of Hiroshima origin, found this a mockery of the tragedy.
aespa incident fans the demand to do something with NHK. For now, LDP seems to plan for simply the decreased NHK reception fee and the dissolution of most affiliates but, it may escalate to the dissolution of the whole NHK.
I got this information from Youtube videos thus, questionable credibility.
