A pigment ink for ink jet recording containing a pigment, water, a graft copolymer and a water-soluble organic solvent, in which a hydrophobic segment constituting the graft copolymer is obtained by copolymerizing a monomer represented by the following formula (1), having an aromatic ring or the like and a monomer having an anionic functional group, and a hydrophilic segment constituting the graft copolymer is obtained by polymerizing a monomer having an anionic functional group: wherein Ar represents an aromatic ring selected from a benzene ring, a condensed benzene ring and a heteroaromatic ring, or a derivative thereof.