A charging member has a charging surface having a concave surface that is positioned on the opposite side of a line H than a side at which an object to be charged is disposed, wherein H is a line that (i) is tangent to a surface of the object to be charged at a point at a downstream end of a contact section or a closest-proximity section between the charging surface and the object to be charged, and (ii) extends downstream from the point of tangency, where the downstream direction is determined with respect to a direction of movement of the object to be charged. By this arrangement, a charging region can be enlarged and periodic fluctuations in a surface potential of the object to be charged can be mitigated.