The present invention provides an acoustic wave acquiring apparatus including: a holding plate configured to hold an object via acoustic matching agent an acoustic wave detector configured to receive an acoustic wave generated from the object irradiated with light from a light source and convert the acoustic wave to an electric signal and a processor configured to generate characteristic information of the inside of the object by using the electric signal. In the acoustic wave acquiring apparatus, the holding plate is subjected to hydrophilic process or the acoustic matching agent contains surfactant.
