Abstract: According to the embodiment, an optical inspection method for a surface state of a subject includes acquiring and discriminating. The acquiring includes acquiring a color vector of a color corresponding to a wavelength spectrum in a color coordinate system of n dimensions (n is a natural number equal to or larger than 1), which is equal to or smaller than a number of a plurality of color channels of pixels of an image sensor, with optical imaging using a wavelength spectrum selection portion that selectively allows a plurality of wavelength spectra different from one another from a surface of the subject to pass. The discriminating includes discriminating the surface state of the subject based on a direction of the color vector in the color coordinate system.