A lighting device which lights the discharge lamp, includes: a converting circuit which converts the direct current into an alternating current; a pulse generating circuit which generates a high voltage pulse; and a trigger circuit which causes the pulse generating circuit to generate the high voltage pulse, wherein the pulse generating circuit includes a primary winding and a secondary winding and generates the high voltage pulse by increasing a current input to the secondary winding based on a current input to the primary winding, and the trigger circuit includes a high pass filter; a first capacitor which stores and discharges charges input via the high pass filter; and a third switching element which outputs an output current from a second capacitor connected in parallel to the converting circuit to the primary winding if an output voltage from the first capacitor exceeds a threshold.