Driving device for semiconductor elements, and semiconductor device

The device for driving the semiconductor element is provided with a drive circuit section, a charging circuit section and a shutting circuit section. The charging circuit section is electrically connected to an external circuit provided with a diode and a capacitive element. The semiconductor element has a first electrode, a second electrode and a control terminal. The cathode of the diode is connected to the first electrode. One of two terminals of the capacitive element is connected to the cathode of the diode, and the other terminal is connected to the second electrode. The charging circuit section enables the capacitive element to be charged at a higher rate after a timed point at which the voltage on the capacitive element becomes equal to a saturation voltage in a case where the input signal is an on-signal.