A rewritable dual-layer phase-change optical disk with a balanced transmittance structure for the layer located at the laser beam incident side (Layer 0) was developed. In this disk structure, transmittance of Layer 0 is almost constant, whether the layer is recorded or not. This structure was realized by adopting Ge-Sb-Te film that has appropriate optical constants, and optimizing the thickness of the dielectric layers. It is proved that this disk structure is effective in suppressing the influence of the recording state of Layer 0 on the layer beneath (Layer 1). Practical performances of the disk with this structure were confirmed for both layers. The feasibility of up to 55 GB capacity was examined for this rewritable dual-layer phase-change optical disk.