A nitride semiconductor light emitting device is formed by: forming a resist pattern on a first nitride semiconductor layer formed on a substrate, the resist pattern having a region whose inclination angle relative to a substrate surface changes smoothly as viewed in a cross section perpendicular to the substrate surface; etching the substrate by using the resist pattern as a mask to transfer the resist pattern to the first nitride semiconductor layer; and forming an light emitting layer on the patterned first nitride semiconductor layer. The nitride semiconductor light emitting device can emit near-white light or have a wavelength range generally equivalent to or near visible light range.