A special image such as a super-resolution image is obtainable without a microscope of a specialized configuration. A microscope observation method includes: a measurement step for changing the illumination angle of an object and measuring the complex amplitude distribution of each lightwave generated separately on the image surface by each light flux emitted from the object at respective illumination angle values; a calculation step for calculating, according to the data on the complex amplitude distribution of each lightwave, the complex amplitude distribution of the virtual lightwave generated on the image surface when the optical imaging system is replaced by an optical virtual-imaging system having a greater numerical aperture; and an image generation step for generating image data of the virtual image formed on the image surface by the optical virtual-imaging system according to the complex amplitude distribution of the virtual lightwave.
