An ink for ink jet recording including a magenta dye selected from azo dyes dissolved or dispersed in an aqueous medium, characterized in that said magenta dye is a dye having an absorption maximum in a spectral range of from 500 to 580 nm in said aqueous medium and a more positive oxidation potential than 1.0V (vs SCE), particularly with the aforesaid ink for ink jet recording wherein the azo dye has a specific structure having a 5-membered heterocyclic ring and a 4-amino-6-membered heterocyclic ring connected to the azo group.