In China, there are few reports of lesson practices or lesson studies of home economics education in elementary schools. However, the teachers at Dacheng Elementary School have been promoting their own curriculum of home economics. They are trying to improve it based on theoretical knowledge and research of home economics education, and it is required for them to share information internationally to examine the future of home economics education. In contrast, although lesson studies are actively researched in Japan, there are few international comparative studies on lessons in home economics. In this study, we focused on home economics classes of sewing on a button in Chinese and Japanese elementary schools. The objectives of this study were to compare the teaching plans, the lesson structures and the teaching methods by learning the teaching plans and lesson records of both cases, and to clarify the differences and special features. The results were as follows: (1) In Japan, lesson objectives are achieved according to a plan with several lesson hours, whereas in China, objectives are set reflecting the idea of labor education, and a plan is conducted every one hour period to achieve the goal. (2) There was a difference in the allocation of time for students to think and practice for acquiring skills during the class. (3) While the Chinese teacher asked the children each question one by one to teach a technical issue for button sewing and asked them to think about a countermeasure, the Japanese teacher responded to the children's remarks and asked questions to encourage their thinking.
