An ink jet recording apparatus is provided with a conveying roller for conveying a recording sheet, and a carriage that enables a recording head for recording on the recording sheet by discharging ink droplets to the recording sheet to reciprocate in the direction intersecting the conveying direction of the recording medium along a guide shaft having a substantially circular lateral section. The bearing portion of the carriage is structured to be in contact with the guide shaft at two points A and B on the upstream side and downstream side in the aforesaid conveying direction with respect to the vertical line running through the center of the guide shaft. Each of angles θa and θb formed in the directions of tangential line and vertical line on the outer circumference of the guide shaft at the contact points A and B is set to make the frictional force generated between the guide shaft and the bearing portion larger than the force generated at the time of the carriage being accelerated to cause the bearing portion to slide in the circumferential direction of the guide shaft.