Laminated material having recorded information thereon, article to which the same is affixed, information reading method, and information reading apparatus

A laminated material on which information is recorded is provided. The laminated material includes a microsphere fixing layer in which many transparent microspheres are arranged and buried with parts thereof exposed, a reflection layer disposed at almost the focus positions of the transparent microspheres, and a transparent resin layer provided at least partially on a surface of the microsphere fixing layer, where the transparent microspheres are exposed. The transparent resin layer shifts the focus positions of the transparent microspheres to reduce the retroreflectance of the portions where the transparent resin layer is provided. The information is recorded with the use of a difference in retroreflectance between the portions where the transparent resin layer is provided and portions where the transparent resin layer is not provided.