There is provided a recording apparatus, a recording method, a reproduction apparatus, a reproduction method, a recording medium, an encoding apparatus, and a decoding apparatus which enable recording or reproduction to be easily implemented at high line density. User data is encoded into a multilevel edge code, and a multilevel code whose value changes in accordance with the multilevel edge code is recorded. The multilevel edge code is generated through state transition of a code generation model which includes a state representing the number of times that zero is consecutive corresponding to a number of ways of the number of times that zero is consecutive, which is the number of times that an edge of 0 is consecutive among edges representing a change amount from an immediately preceding value of the multilevel code of an ML value which is equal to or greater than 3, and which transitions to a state representing the number of times that zero is consecutive including 0 in a case where 0 is output, and transitions to a state representing that the number of times that zero is consecutive is 0 times in a case where one of 1 to ML−1 is output.

There is provided a recording apparatus, a recording method, a reproduction apparatus, a reproduction method, a recording medium, an encoding apparatus, and a decoding apparatus which enable recording or reproduction to be easily implemented at high line density. User data is encoded into a multilevel edge code, and a multilevel code whose value changes in accordance with the multilevel edge code is recorded. The multilevel edge code is generated through state transition of a code generation model which includes a state representing the number of times that zero is consecutive corresponding to a number of ways of the number of times that zero is consecutive, which is the number of times that an edge of 0 is consecutive among edges representing a change amount from an immediately preceding value of the multilevel code of an ML value which is equal to or greater than 3, and which transitions to a state representing the number of times that zero is consecutive including 0 in a case where 0 is output, and transitions to a state representing that the number of times that zero is consecutive is 0 times in a case where one of 1 to ML−1 is output.

A data encoding method for 3n number of symbol data, n being a natural number is provided. The method includes mapping, according to a first mapping rule, 2n number of symbol data out of the 3n number of symbol data into a first group, converting, according to a second mapping rule, n number of symbol data out of the 3n number of symbol data into a second group, arranging the first group and the second group in each of the plurality of modulation units, each of the symbol data of the first group being not adjacent to one another, and each of the symbol data of the second group located between the adjacent symbol data of the first group, and outputting a modulation page having 2N2M pixels, each of N and M being a natural number. Each of a plurality of modulation units includes the first group and the second group.