In this paper, a friction compensation method using a disturbance observer is proposed for an impedance control of pneumatic manipulator. It is assumed that the generated torque by a pneumatic actuator can be estimated based on the pressure signals and the discharge volume. In order to improve the dynamic characteristics of the pneumatic actuator driven by meter out method, we construct the inner torque control system by feeding back the generated torque. In order to reduce the influence of disturbances comprising friction torque and parameter variations of plant, the impedance control system is constructed with a disturbance observer which estimates the disturbances based on the generated torque of pneumatic actuator, the angular velocity and the reaction torque. From some experiments, it is confirmed that the proposed control system is effective to improve the robustness for the friction torque in the impedance control of a pneumatic manipulator.