Patent ID: 7362348

Claim:
An optical disk recording apparatus for forming a visible image on an optical disk having a discoloration layer discolored by irradiation of laser light, the visible image formed by discoloring the discoloration layer, the optical disk recording apparatus comprising: a rotating unit for rotating the optical disk; an optical pickup that applies laser light to the discoloration layer of the optical disk, wherein the optical pickup varies a position of the laser light to be applied to the optical disk within a predetermined range in a radial direction of the optical disk; a feeding unit that feeds a position of the optical pickup with respect to the optical disk, wherein the feeding unit fixes a position of the optical pickup with respect to the optical disk in the radial direction until the rotating unit rotates the optical disk a predetermined plurality of times, and moves the optical pickup in the radial direction with respect to the optical disk by a predetermined distance when the optical disk has been rotated the predetermined plurality of times; an irradiation position operating unit that operates the optical pickup at a time the feeding unit fixes the optical pickup, so that the position of the laser light applied from the optical pickup varies in the radial direction within the predetermined range while the optical disk is rotated; and an irradiation position control unit that controls the irradiation position operating unit, at the time the feeding unit fixes the optical pickup, so that irradiation loci of the laser light on the optical disk are made different from each other every rotation.