To provide a plating method capable of preventing a leakage of the plating liquid in a following process by restricting the intrusion of the plating liquid inside of a piston hollow part when plating the piston, and to provide a piston manufactured by using this method.

A shoe receiver part 23 of a piston 1 having an opening part 27 communicated with a hollow inside part 26 of a head part 2 in a connection part 22 is formed with a plating layer mainly composed of tin. The piston 1 is supported by a conveyor 31 in the condition that an engagement part 20 is directed downward, and dipped in the plating liquid 30. Since the opening part 27 is directed downward, intrusion of the plating liquid 30 into the hollow inside part 26 is prevented by the air pressure of the hollow inside part 26. Even in the piston 1 having the opening part 27 communicated with the hollow inside part 26, intrusion of the plating liquid 26 into the hollow inside part 26 can be prevented by dipping the piston 1 in the plating liquid 30.