A tracking error detection apparatus includes a phase error detection unit for detecting a phase error of an output signal according to the amount of reflected light that is obtained when a light beam is applied to an information recording medium and a low-band pass unit for performing band restriction to obtain a tracking error signal from the phase error signal. The tracking error detection apparatus also includes a clock generation unit for generating a clock and a clock control unit having a frequency divider for generating a frequency-divided clock of the clock that is generated by the clock generation unit, wherein the clock control unit uses the frequency-divided clock as an operation clock for the tracking error detection apparatus. Therefore, the operation rate of each unit when generating a tracking error signal can be reduced, whereby a reduction in power consumption is achieved.