A nitride semiconductor element exhibiting low leakage current and high ESD tolerance includes an active layer of nitride semiconductor that is interposed between a p-sided layer and an n-sided layer, which respectively consist of a plurality of nitride semiconductor layers, the p-side layer including a p-type contact layer as a layer for forming p-ohmic electrodes, the p-type contact layer being formed by laminating p-type nitride semiconductor layers and n-type nitride semiconductor layers in an alternate manner.