In order to allow reception in which receive sensitivity does not depend upon polarization state in reception of a multi-level phase optical signal, in this optical reception method, a multi-level phase optical signal of a single polarization is separated into a first optical signal and a second optical signal of which polarizations are mutually orthogonal, the ratio of the power of the first optical signal to the power of the second signal is calculated, and the difference between the phase of the first optical signal and the phase of second optical signal is calculated as an amount of compensation, whereupon, on the basis of the ratio and the amount of compensation, the first optical signal and the second optical signal are combined using a maximal ratio combining method, and the amount of compensation is modified on the basis of the ratio.