English education in Japan and Korea are similar in some respects. Although both countries are not completely but mostly monolingual societies, where citizens do not need English in their daily life, they have begun to realize the importance of English as a tool for international communication, and as a result their English education is becoming more and more communication-oriented. It seems that Korea is the forerunner in communicative teaching and Japan is following. This report compares English textbooks used at schools in Japan and Korea, which shows a great deal on how English is taught in both countries. Since English is taught as a regular subject for 3rd to 6th grade at elementary schools in Korea but not in Japan (tentatively taught for 5th and 6th grade), the English taught at Korean middle schools (junior high schools) is much more advanced than that of Japan, however, it is not necessarily true of the senior high school level. The goal of English textbooks in each country is slightly different: Koreans aim to express themselves and exchange ideas in English, while Japanese textbooks are designed to arouse learners' interests in foreign culture and to foster their communicative attitude. (Contains 4 tables.)