An excitation region setting method according to an embodiment includes: receiving a designation of a first region from a user, the first region being designated in a distortion-corrected image that is a magnetic resonance image in which an effect of a distortion of a magnetic field has been corrected; calculating an actual excitation region where a subject is to be excited, based on the designated first region and the effect of the distortion of the magnetic field; and correcting imaging conditions including at least one of an orientation of a slice plane that defines the actual excitation region, or a frequency of a high-frequency magnetic field applied to the subject, in such a manner that the calculated actual excitation region becomes closer to an ideal excitation region represented as the first region.