A tactile sensation providing apparatus includes a touch sensor 11, a tactile sensation providing unit 13 configured to vibrate a touch face of the touch sensor 11, a tactile sensation provision control unit 14 configured to control drive of the tactile sensation providing unit 13, and a main control unit 17 configured to control an operation of the tactile sensation provision control unit 14 based on an output of the touch sensor 11. The main control unit 17 determines whether an object is touching a predetermined area of the touch face based on the output of the touch sensor 11, and starts the operation of the tactile sensation provision control unit 14 when determining that the object is touching the predetermined area, or stops the operation of the tactile sensation provision control unit 14 when determining that the object is not touching the predetermined area.