The fatigue crack initiation behavior of plasma ion nitrided SACM645 steel was investigated through the rotary bending fatigue test and residual stress measurement by XRD. It was shown by XRD and EPMA that the plasma ion nitrided surface was composed of ${gamma}^{prime}(Fe_4N)$phase and ${varepsilon}(Fe_{2-3}N)$phase, and that the nitrogen atoms existed in Fe matrix in diffusion layer. The OM, SEM and Auger spectroscopy showed that the depth of compound layer, mixed compound and diffusion layer, and diffusion layer was $8{mu}m$, $30{mu}m$ and $300{mu}m$, respectively. However, the microhardness test showed that the depth of hardened layer was $500{mu}m$. The tensile strength of the ion nitrided SACM645 was lower than that of the unnitrided SACM645, and the ion nitrided specimen was fractured without plastic deformation. The nitrided SACM645 showed much poorer low cycle fatigue properties than the unnitrided one. In rotary bending fatigue, the fatigue strength of the ion nitrided SACM645 was higher than that of the unnitrided specimen, and the fatigue crack initiation sites changed by applied fatigue stress levels. The XRD result showed that the ion nitrided SACM645 has the compressive residual stress from surface to $600{mu}m$ deep and the tensile residual stress from $600{mu}m$ to deeper site. It is thought that crack initiation takes place at the point where the total stress of residual stress and applied stress is maximum.