An image pickup unit comprising: an image pickup device including parallax detection pixels and picture generation pixels, each of the parallax detection pixels receiving object light by a plurality of photodetectors covered by one microlens, to generate a signal used for detecting parallax, and each of the picture generation pixels receiving the object light by a photodetector not covered by the microlens used for the parallax detection and covered, on a pixel basis, with a microlens used for the picture generation pixels and smaller in size than the microlens used for the parallax detection pixels, to generate a signal used for generating a picture; characterized by a 2D picture generation section configured to interpolate a pixel value corresponding to a position of a parallax detection pixel and perform demosaic processing in the picture to generate a planar image; a posture detection section configured to detect a posture of the image pickup unit, wherein the parallax detection pixels are arranged on a line in a row direction of the image pickup device and on a line in a column direction thereof; and a stereoscopic picture generation section configured to determine a detection direction of the parallax from the row direction and the column direction of the image pickup device, based on the posture detected by the posture detection section; generate a left-eye information picture and a right-eye information picture, based on the signal generated by the parallax detection pixels arranged in the corresponding direction to the determined detection direction of the parallax; detect the parallax based on the left-eye information picture and the right-eye information picture; and adjust a position of each object image (351, 352) included in the generated planar picture, based on the detected parallax, to generate a stereoscopic picture (331, 332). an image pickup device including parallax detection pixels and picture generation pixels, each of the parallax detection pixels receiving object light by a plurality of photodetectors covered by one microlens, to generate a signal used for detecting parallax, and each of the picture generation pixels receiving the object light by a photodetector not covered by the microlens used for the parallax detection and covered, on a pixel basis, with a microlens used for the picture generation pixels and smaller in size than the microlens used for the parallax detection pixels, to generate a signal used for generating a picture; each of the parallax detection pixels receiving object light by a plurality of photodetectors covered by one microlens, to generate a signal used for detecting parallax, and each of the picture generation pixels receiving the object light by a photodetector not covered by the microlens used for the parallax detection and covered, on a pixel basis, with a microlens used for the picture generation pixels and smaller in size than the microlens used for the parallax detection pixels, to generate a signal used for generating a picture; characterized by a 2D picture generation section configured to interpolate a pixel value corresponding to a position of a parallax detection pixel and perform demosaic processing in the picture to generate a planar image; a posture detection section configured to detect a posture of the image pickup unit, wherein the parallax detection pixels are arranged on a line in a row direction of the image pickup device and on a line in a column direction thereof; and a stereoscopic picture generation section configured to determine a detection direction of the parallax from the row direction and the column direction of the image pickup device, based on the posture detected by the posture detection section; generate a left-eye information picture and a right-eye information picture, based on the signal generated by the parallax detection pixels arranged in the corresponding direction to the determined detection direction of the parallax; detect the parallax based on the left-eye information picture and the right-eye information picture; and adjust a position of each object image (351, 352) included in the generated planar picture, based on the detected parallax, to generate a stereoscopic picture (331, 332).