The purpose of this study is to provide the directions for the further development of the home care services in Korea, through comparison of the home care system and visiting nursing activities for the elderly in Japan and with those of Korea. The results of this study were summarised as follows: The major difference between the two countries was that Japan emphasised the development of home services by visiting nurse service stations (VNSS), especially in the community. In contrast, Korea has emphasised providing hospital based home care services and assuring the quality of services through the preparation of home care nurses before beginning services. And many elderly in Korea have used a public health center when they have health problems. According to the result, the establishment of a VNSS system and activation of a public health center in the community must be considered as the direction to advance home care systems for the elderly.