A paper feed apparatus having a pickup mechanism to pick up a plurality of paper sheets stacked on a chute one by one from the bottom and carrying the paper sheets to a predetermined standby position, comprises a gate 2 disposed facing a pickup roller 1 almost vertically with respect to the direction of paper feed to form a predetermined clearance, a paper-sheet separating pad 3 disposed in sliding contact with the pickup roller 1 to pick up the paper placed on the standby position one by one, and a pickup arm 4 that can be driven to be moved upward when setting paper sheets and downward when feeding paper sheets to push from above the paper sheets stacked on a chute 13 near a paper-sheet feed port. The pickup arm 4,when brought into free state as the planetary gear 5 disengages from the drive power transmission system, pushes paper sheets with a pushing force that increases with increases in the number of paper sheets stacked on the chute 13.