A perforating apparatus having an orientation correction device that corrects skewing and aligns the front edge by striking the front edge of the paper, a perforation device having a punch to conduct perforation processing on the paper; and a lateral registration adjustment device that can adjust, in a direction at a right angle to the direction of movement of the aforementioned paper, the position of the perforation device punch in relation to the paper with orientation corrected using an orientation constraint device prior to perforating by the perforation device. The perforating apparatus may also include a structure in which said perforation device can be inserted into and detached from a non-moving support unit having the drive source of a lateral registration adjustment device, and when mounted, the type of perforation device can be recognized.