An electrostatic ink jet recording apparatus has a head body having an ink chamber in which ink charged to a specified polarity is stored, a plurality of ink ejection ports and a plurality of ejection electrodes. An ejection electrode drive circuit generates an ejection voltage to drive the plurality of ejection electrodes according to a time division method so that the ejection voltage is not simultaneously supplied to the adjacent ejection electrodes. A plurality of opposite electrodes are opposed to the plurality of ejection electrodes via recording paper. They are separated into first opposite electrodes corresponding to those ejection electrodes which are selectively being driven according to the time division method and second opposite electrodes corresponding to those ejection electrodes which are not being driven according to the time division method. An opposite potential setting circuit sets a first potential for the first opposite electrodes and a second potential for the second opposite electrodes. The first potential is set at such a value as to cause ink ejected from the ink ejection ports to be electrically attracted to the first opposite electrodes more strongly than to the second opposite electrodes.