Method for preparing hydrogen absorbing electrode and nickel metal-hydride battery

In a method for preparing a hydrogen absorbing electrode, a hydrogen absorbing alloy which contains a rare earth element as an alloy constituent and a transition metal element is immersed in an aqueous alkaline solution so that the saturation mass susceptibility is 1.0 to 6.5 emu/g of the hydrogen absorbing alloy. The hydrogen absorbing alloy is mixed through the immersing step with an oxide or hydroxide of a rare earth element wherein the oxide or hydroxide has as a main component at least one element selected from the group consisting of Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu. Then, a mixture of the hydrogen absorbing alloy and the oxide or hydroxide of the rare earth element is applied to form a desired shape.