Abstract: How to effectively coordinate the economic and educational functions, reasonably determine the basic positioning and future direction of vocational education arouses great interest both in China and Japan academia. Through the comparison of vocational education development and realistic dilemmas between China and Japan, this paper presents the following findings. While there are phase variations in vocational education development in the two countries, both pay attention to the common direction——advanced vocational education and vocational career education. From the four-dimensional analysis framework of vocational education system, the government-led diversified cooperation relationship construction and the key competence oriented target and course structure are rooted in Confucianism culture education as the main evaluation criteria of east Asian countries in vocational education. It presents common characteristics whose vocational education is based on qualifications framework in European and American countries, which provides reference for China to solve practical problems.

Key words: vocational education, career education, school-running function, comparison between China and Japan