In a heat sensitive transfer medium (i.e., an ink ribbon) including a base layer, an ink layer containing a coloring agent, and an ink releasing layer interposed between the base layer and the ink layer, the present invention incorporates a heat retaining layer between the base layer and the ink releasing layer for in order to delay the dissipation of heat from the ink releasing layer. When ink has a higher resin content for the purpose of printing on rough paper, the molten ink can act as an adhesive between the paper and the ink ribbon during printing thereby causing a delay in the separation of the ink ribbon from the paper. This delay allows the ink releasing layer to cool and the molten ink to become attracted to both the paper and the ink ribbon, thus resulting in poor printing quality. The heat retaining layer suppresses the dissipation of heat from the ink releasing layer and therefore allows the ink to adhere the paper causing reliably good printing quality.