Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has been widely implemented in educational systems in Europe since the mid-1990s based on their multilingual education policy. CLIL integrates acquisition of subject knowledge with language learning, either a second or foreign language, simultaneously. Recently, CLIL in English has been introduced in higher education in Japan although its implementation is still at an early stage. This article aims to provide a brief overview of CLIL in higher education in Spain and in Japan in relation to the social economic rationales, and to investigate students' perceptions of CLIL implementation in the two countries through questionnaire surveys. The results show differences in social economic rationales of CLIL implementation in both countries. CLIL in Spain, on the one hand, is "proactive", adhering to the bilingual and multilingual education policy in the European Union. In Japan, on the other hand, introduction of CLIL seems to be "reactive" to provide human resources with English proficiency for its economic purposes. In terms of students' perceptions, about a half of the respondents in both countries shows a positive view of CLIL at tertiary level.