A perpendicular magnetic recording medium includes a substrate, a soft magnetic lining layer formed on the substrate, and a recording layer. The recording layer includes a first recording layer, an auxiliary recording layer, and a second recording layer that are laminated in this sequence. The first and the second recording layers are ferromagnetic layers that have a magnetization easy axis perpendicular to the layers. The auxiliary recording layer includes two or more magnetic particles mutually separated by non-magnetism members, wherein the magnetic particles are arranged approximately perpendicular to the layer and have the magnetization easy axis in a direction slanted with reference to the layer. The auxiliary recording layer is exchange-coupled with the adjoining first recording layer and second recording layer. The perpendicular magnetic recording medium may include an exchange-coupling-strength control layer between the first recording layer and the auxiliary recording layer, or alternatively, between the auxiliary recording layer and the second recording layer.