A bonding apparatus includes a substrate holder holding the second substrate; a pusher pushing a back surface of the second substrate; a substrate support unit including a support talon supporting a circumferential edge portion of the first substrate to oppose the second substrate with a prescribed spacing between the second substrate and the circumferential edge portion of the first substrate; and a controller controlling a lifting/lowering operation of the pusher. The pusher pushes one prescribed point of the back surface of the second substrate, the one prescribed point corresponding to a position where a distance between a bonding surface of the first substrate and a bonding surface of the second substrate is shorter than a distance from the circumferential edge portion of the bonding surface of the first substrate to the bonding surface of the second substrate.