The present invention provides an ink set, in which in ink jet recording, an ejection stability is enhanced, hues, light resistance and water resistance of an image obtained are made excellent, and image keeping quality under severe conditions is improved, wherein the color ink set comprising a plurality of inks different in hues in order to record on a recording medium, the ink set comprising as a black ink at least a specified coloring agent, which has a max of 500 nm to 700 nm and a half value width in an absorption spectrum of a dilute solution normalized to an absorbance of 100 nm or more, an ink cartridge containing the same, an ink jet printer carrying them, and an image recording method.