This study examines Japanese teacher training programs for consumer education in comparison with those in South Korea. The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) conducts a total of 30 hours of training over five days, scheduled over an extended holiday. Offered in cooperation with the Office of Education as an occupational training program, this training can directly help teachers advance their careers. Pilot school teachers and KCA researchers serve as lecturers. Many aspects of the training conducted in South Korea could be used to help improve the training offered in Japan, such as the incorporation of training materials derived from day-to-day living environments and information on trends related to children. Hopefully this will lead to real progress on future instructor training systems, and to the development of training programs that incorporate new trends.