The blood vessel characteristics measuring apparatus 100 includes a blood flow measuring unit 20 held at a position opposed to a skin surface 10 of a measurement region of a subject, an optical sensor unit 30 housed in the blood flow measuring unit 20, an electrocardiograph 40, and a controller 50. The controller 50 includes a blood flow measuring part 60, a blood vessel displacement deriving part 70, and a blood vessel condition deriving part 80. The blood flow measuring part 60 measures the displacements of a blood vessel and tissues around the blood vessel caused by a blood flow based on light intensity at the time of receiving light emitted from a light-emitting part 32 of the sensor unit 30 in light-receiving parts 34 and 36. The blood vessel displacement deriving part 70 derives the wall of the blood vessel 12 based on the displacements of the blood vessel and tissues around the blood vessel. The blood vessel condition deriving part 80 determines pulse wave velocity at each measurement position based on a phase difference between the waveform of the electrocardiographic signal of the electrocardiograph 40 and a detection signal waveform obtained from the light-receiving parts 34 and 36, and derives the condition of the displacement of the wall of the blood vessel 12 from the pulse wave velocity.
