According to one embodiment, a perpendicular magnetic recording medium includes a substrate, an underlayer formed on the substrate and a magnetic recording layer formed on the underlayer and having an easy axis in a direction perpendicular to a film surface. The underlayer includes a plurality of projecting portions arranged at a distance of 1 nm to 20 nm from one another. The magnetic recording layer is an amorphous magnetic recording layer including a plurality of magnetic grains each formed to expand towards a top end thereof from a surface of a respective projecting portion of the underlayer, at least those of the magnetic grains located on a respective projecting portion side being separated from each other.