An ink to be used in an ink jet recording method of ejecting an ink from a recording head through action of thermal energy can improve the ink ejection stability and shows a high storage stability and a high color developability. An ink to be used in an ink jet recording method of ejecting an ink from a recording head through action of thermal energy is characterized in that the ink comprises a pigment represented by the general formula (1), a dispersant, a water-soluble organic compound and an aggregation inhibiting substance for inhibiting aggregation after dispersion breakdown of the pigment, and the content (mass %) of the aggregation inhibiting substance with respect to the total mass of ink is 0.4 times or more to less than 1.3 times of the content (mass %) of the pigment with respect to the total mass of ink ##STR00001##