An optical writing device performing optical writing onto a photoreceptor, including: a light-emitting unit including a plurality of light-emitting elements that form a plurality of element rows spaced from one another in a sub scanning direction, each of the light-emitting elements having a main scanning direction position differing from a main scanning direction position of any other one of the light-emitting elements; a plurality of signal output units, one for each element row, each outputting a light amount signal for each light-emitting element in a corresponding element row, each light amount signal indicating an amount of light to be emitted by a corresponding light-emitting element; and a plurality of drive units, one for each light-emitting element, each, when receiving a light amount signal for a corresponding light-emitting element, supplying a drive current in accordance with the light amount signal to the corresponding light-emitting element.