An endoscope system of the invention includes: an endoscope including an insertion portion, a distal end portion provided on a distal end side of the insertion portion and including an image pickup section for outputting an image pickup signal corresponding to an image of a photographic subject, and a bending portion which is capable of changing a position and an orientation of the distal end portion with respect to an insertion direction of the insertion portion a position detecting section for acquiring position information including information on a position where the distal end portion is located a passing target position setting section for setting a passing target position for the distal end portion based on the image of the photographic subject a path estimating section for estimating a path through which the distal end portion is to be passed based on position information and passing target position a bending control target position setting section for properly setting a bending control target position on the path such that the distal end portion reaches the passing target position along the path, based on the passing target position and the path and a bending control information calculating section for calculating an amount of bending and a bending direction of the bending portion based on the bending control target position.
