According to the present invention, exhaust emission control is exercised to restrict the exhaust amounts [g] of HC, CO, NOx, and the like. However, since the intake air amount for startup unduly increases due to an engine speed overshoot for startup, the exhaust amounts of HC, CO, and NOx increase excessively. Therefore, there is a need for optimizing the intake air amount for startup. The present invention proposes an engine startup control method that assures excellent startability and low exhaust emissions (small gas amount). Disclosed is an engine control device for starting an engine (from its stop state). The engine control device includes a section for setting a target engine operating state of each combustion; a section for detecting an actual engine operating state of each combustion; and a section for computing a control parameter for each subsequent combustion in accordance with the target engine operating state of each combustion and the actual engine operating state of each combustion.