According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recoil starter including: a base plate that has a bearing portion formed therein; a rotary shaft that is supported by the bearing portion so as to pass through the base plate; a rope reel that is rotatably supported at one side of the base plate; a recoil rope that is wound around the rope reel; a recoil spiral spring that urges the rope reel to rewind the recoil rope; a damper spring that has one end connected to the rotary shaft and the other end connected to the rope reel; and a clutch mechanism that is disposed on an end of the rotary shaft at the other side of the base plate and that transfer a rotational force to an engine.