The method for driving a plasma display panel effects control of the subfields as follows. The all-cell initializing operation on the discharge cell is carried out in the initializing period of at least one sub-filed; the rest of the subfields other than the aforementioned subfield selectively carry out an addressing operation in each discharge cell. Gradation display is attained by combination of a subfield having an address discharge in the address period and a sub-filed with no address discharge in the address period. In a discharge cell where an address discharge is generated in the address period of a subfield that follows the subfield having the all-cell initializing operation in the initializing period, the subfield having the all-cell initializing operation has an address period for generating an address discharge.