A capsule endoscope that includes a capsule-shaped casing and a detecting unit that is provided inside the casing to detect a magnetic field orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the casing, the endoscope being activated when the detecting unit detects a magnetic field of a threshold or more a capsule container that houses the endoscope a route portion in which a route is formed on which the container moves on a planar face an activation magnetic field generating unit that is arranged at an interval along the route, and includes magnets for generating magnetic fields in a direction vertical to a direction in which the container moves on the route, the magnets being arranged such that respective magnetization directions are different and a response unit that has a magnetization direction orthogonal respectively to a center axis direction of the longitudinal direction and a direction of the detected magnetic field.
