Since the mid-20th century, the topic of death has transcended traditional taboos and emerged as a focus of interdisciplinary research. As a practical response to the ethical dilemmas posed by modern medicine, end-of-life care has gradually evolved into a global issue, and Buddhism, with its unique insights into life and death, has become an important area of academic growth. As core members of the East Asian Buddhist cultural sphere, China and Japan exhibit both differences and complementarities in their approaches to end-of-life care research. A comparative analysis reveals that China excels in theoretical tracing and localized interpretation, whereas Japan has achieved the public application of Buddhist resources through institutional innovation. Future research should strive to break down disciplinary and cultural barriers, integrating Chinese and Japanese experiences within a framework of "global localization" to construct a model of end-of-life care that combines theoretical depth with practical flexibility, thereby positioning Buddhist perspectives on life and death as an Eastern response to the challenges of modernity.