An optical transmitter has an electrical signal generator configured to generate an electrical drive signal based upon input data; an optical modulator configured to modulate an input light by the electrical drive signal, the optical modulator having a first waveguide pair, a second waveguide pair, and a phase shifter that provides a phase difference between light waves travelling through the first waveguide pair and the second waveguide pair; and a controller configured to set the phase difference at the phase shifter to 0+n*π radians, where it is an integer, when a modulation scheme of the optical modulator is changed from a first scheme using four or more phase values to a second scheme using two phase values.