Provided is a boron nitride sintered body having a porous structure, the boron nitride sintered body including a lump particle formed by aggregation of primary particles of boron nitride and having a particle diameter of 15 μm or more. Provided is a method for manufacturing a boron nitride sintered body, the method including: a nitriding step of firing a raw material powder containing boron carbide in an atmosphere containing nitrogen to obtain a fired product including lump particles each having a core part with primary particles of boron carbonitride aggregated and a shell part surrounding the core part; and a firing step of molding and heating a blend containing the fired product including lump particles and a sintering aid to obtain the boron nitride sintered body having a porous structure and including lump particles of boron nitride.