A recording medium including a plurality of recording layers, including: an optional first recording layer on which a light spot at a diffraction limit is formed; and a second recording layer on which a mark string pattern is formed, said second recording layer being different from said first recording layer, wherein when said mark string pattern is formed on a light receiving plane, while information of said first recording layer is reproduced, assuming that an optical distance between said first and second recording layers is dm, an optical distance d between optional two recording layers among a plurality of said recording layers is different from said dm.