An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body, a recording head, a cap member, and release valves. The head has a nozzle face with nozzles to eject liquid droplets. The head is placed in the apparatus body so as to eject the droplets obliquely downward in any of the vertical or horizontal arrangement of the apparatus body. The cap member caps the nozzle face and has openings at opposed ends in a longitudinal direction of the cap member to communicate an inside of the cap member with an outside of the cap member. The valves open and close the openings relative to an atmosphere. One of the valves placed higher than another one of the valves in accordance with the vertical or horizontal arrangement is configured to open the inside of the cap member to the atmosphere through one of the openings placed higher than another one of the openings.