A piezoelectric motor includes a piezoelectric element having a piezoelectric layer, and a first and a second electrodes, the first electrode provided on one surface side of the piezoelectric layer, and the second electrode provided on the other surface side of the piezoelectric layer; a piezoelectric actuator having a vibrating member anchored to the first electrode of the piezoelectric element; and a rotational shaft with which the vibrating member makes contact and is rotated thereby. The piezoelectric layer includes a vertical vibration excitation region, provided toward the center of the piezoelectric layer in the widthwise direction, that elicits vertical vibrations, and two groups of bending vibration excitation regions, one group disposed on either side of the vertical vibration excitation region so that two opposing diagonal pairs are formed; and the polarization direction of the vertical vibration excitation region and one of the groups of the bending vibration excitation regions in the piezoelectric layer is inverted relative to the other group of the bending vibration excitation regions.