Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to examine the views of nursing homes for the elderly in Korea and Japan.
Research design, data, and Methodology – This study aims to review the past researches on the social welfare and nursing homes for the elderly in Korea and Japan. A comprehensive view is offered with comparisons on the differences between the two countries regarding the dramatic increase of the elderly population.
Results – It could be seen that with the significant increase of the elderly populations, it is getting more difficult for families to take care of their elders. Thus, nursing homes offer an alternative to busy family members in the current times. Improvements are much needed in the nursing homes for the health of the elderly.
Conclusions – In order to offer better quality of life for the elderly in the nursing homes, more measures need to be taken to engage the elderly into activities. The depression that can be experienced when the elderly move to the nursing homes might be alleviated with new social circles and activities in the nursing homes, as well as human interactions with the staff

Abstract
 1. Introduction
 2. Nursing homes and the elderly in Korea
 3. Nursing homes and the elderly in Japan
 4. Improvements of nursing homes for theelderly
 5. Discussion
 6. Conclusions
 References

• Myung-Hee Jung(Department of Social Welfare, Jungwon University)