A method for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium (30) having magnetically separate magnetic recording patterns on at least one surface of a nonmagnetic substrate (1), includes the steps of forming a
magnetic layer (2) on the nonmagnetic substrate, forming a
mask layer (3) on the
magnetic layer, forming a
resist layer (4) on the
mask layer, transferring negative patterns of the magnetic recording patterns to the
resist layer using a stamp (5), removing portions of the
mask layer which correspond to the negative patterns of the magnetic recording patterns, implanting ions in the
magnetic layer from a
resist layer-side surface to partly demagnetize the magnetic layer, and removing the resist layer and the
mask layer. A magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus includes the above magnetic recording medium (30), a driving section (11) that drives the magnetic recording medium in a recording direction, a magnetic head (27) including a recording section and a reproducing section, a device (28) for moving the magnetic head relative to the magnetic recording medium, and recording and reproducing
signal processing device (29) for inputting a
signal to the
magnetic bead and reproducing an output
signal from the magnetic head.