A paper-sheet recognition apparatus recognizes a paper sheet, which is being transported, by using an optical line sensor and a magnetic line sensor. The paper-sheet recognition apparatus includes a memory unit that stores therein magnetic templates defined in advance for respective types and respective transport directions of paper sheets, wherein the magnetic templates are defined at optical resolution representing resolution of the optical line sensor; a selecting unit that selects a magnetic template based on a type and a transport direction of the paper sheet, the type and the transport direction being obtained by analyzing optical data acquired by the optical line sensor; and a comparing unit that divides magnetic data acquired by the magnetic line sensor into pieces of data each corresponding to the optical resolution, and compares the magnetic template selected by the selecting unit with the divided magnetic data.