Provided is an image forming apparatus including an image bearer, a developing unit configured to develop with a toner, an intermediate transfer member, and a transferring unit, wherein the intermediate transfer member is a laminate including a base layer and an elastic layer including particles at a surface thereof to form convex-concave shapes at the surface, the particles have volume resistivity of from 1×10.sup.0 ohm*cm through 1×10.sup.9 ohm*cm, the toner includes additive, an amount of the additive separated from the toner is from 20 percent by mass through 35 percent by mass relative to a total amount of the additive in the toner when a toner dispersion liquid in which the toner is dispersed in a dispersant is irradiated with ultrasonic wave vibration with an irradiation energy dose of 4 kJ, and the toner has a dielectric constant of 2.6 or greater but 3.9 or less.

Resin particles each include a binder resin. The binder resin includes an amorphous polyester resin and a crystalline resin. The amorphous polyester resin includes alcohol monomers as one of constituent components. The alcohol monomers include propylene glycol. Abundance of the crystalline resin in a region from an outermost surface of each of the resin particles to a depth of 150 nm from the outermost surface is 4% or less relative to an amount of the crystalline resin in an entire region of each of the resin particles. A radiocarbon .sup.14C content of the resin particles is 5.4 pMC or greater.

A method for producing a pigment dispersion includes: wet-dispersing a mixture A containing an organic pigment, a flame retardant, a dispersant, and an aqueous medium by using a media disperser to form a mixture B; and wet-dispersing the mixture B by using a media disperser to form a mixture C. The media disperser in the wet-dispersing of the mixture A and the media disperser in the wet-dispersing of the mixture B are annular-type media dispersers each having a cylindrical vessel, a cylindrical rotor that is disposed inside the cylindrical vessel and that rotates to disperse the mixture, and a screen-type media separator that separates media particles and the mixture. The number-average particle size MA of the media particles in the media disperser in the wet-dispersing of the mixture A and the number-average particle size MB of the media particles in the media disperser in the wet-dispersing of the mixture B satisfy the following formula (1) and the following formula (2):

0.5 mm≥MA>MB≥0.05 mm,  Formula (1):

0.3 mm≥MB≥0.05 mm.  Formula (2):

An electrostatic image developing toner includes an amorphous polyester resin, a crystalline polyester resin, and C.I. Pigment Red 57:1, wherein a Net intensity N.sub.Mg of an Mg element, the Net intensity N.sub.Mg of being determined by X-ray fluorescence analysis, is 0.10 kcps or more and 0.40 kcps or less.

A method for producing a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image includes: performing first aggregation involving aggregating at least resin particles and releasing agent particles to prepare a dispersion A that contains first aggregated particles that will form a core; performing second aggregation involving adding, to the dispersion A, a dispersion B that contains shell resin particles that will form a shell so as to cause the shell resin particles to adhere to the first aggregated particles and form second aggregated particles; and performing fusion involving heating and fusing the second aggregated particles to form toner particles, in which a solid component concentration (A) of the dispersion A and a solid component concentration (B) of the dispersion B satisfy a relationship, (A)<(B).

A method for producing an electrostatic charge image development toner includes: a first step of aggregating polyester resin particles and a flat color material to produce a first aggregated particle dispersion in which first aggregated particles having a number-average particle diameter of 1 μm or more are dispersed; a second step of adding a non-crystalline resin particle dispersion in which non-crystalline resin particles are dispersed to the first aggregated particle dispersion to cause the non-crystalline resin particles to be attached to the first aggregated particles and obtain second aggregated particles; and a third step of heating a second aggregated particle dispersion in which the second aggregated particles are dispersed to cause the second aggregated particles to coalesce, wherein the non-crystalline resin particle dispersion satisfies Formulas (1) to (3), Formula (1): −0.01×A−0.25×B+9.2≤pH≤−0.01×A−0.25×B+10.0, Formula (2): 100 nm≤A≤250 nm, Formula (3): 5 mgKOH/g≤B≤20 mgKOH/g, in which A is a particle diameter of the non-crystalline resin particles, B is an acid value of the non-crystalline resin, and pH is a pH of the non-crystalline resin particle dispersion.

A method for producing a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image includes preparing a dispersion that contains first resin particles; forming first aggregated particles at a pH of less than 7.0 by adding an aggregating agent to the dispersion so as to aggregate the first resin particles; forming second aggregated particles by adding second resin particles to the dispersion that has undergone the forming of the first aggregated particles so as to aggregate the second resin particles onto the first aggregated particles; adjusting a pH of the dispersion that has undergone the forming of the second aggregated particles to 7.0 or more so as to prepare a dispersion of aggregated particles in which aggregation of the resin particles has been terminated; adding an anionic surfactant to the dispersion having a pH adjusted to 7.0 or more; and forming core-shell toner particles by heating the dispersion containing the anionic surfactant so as to fuse and coalesce the aggregated particles in which aggregation of the resin particles has been terminated. Releasing agent particles are added to the dispersion during the preparing of the dispersion or during the forming of the second aggregated particles, or during both the preparing of the dispersion and the forming of the second aggregated particles.

A method for producing an electrostatic charge image developing toner includes forming aggregated particles by aggregating at least resin particles in a dispersion liquid containing the resin particles, and fusing/coalescing the aggregated particles by heating an aggregated particle dispersion liquid containing a base having volatility and the aggregated particles dispersed therein in a fusion/coalescence tank which houses the aggregated particle dispersion liquid. In fusing/coalescing the aggregated particles, at least one of conditions (1) to (3) below is satisfied, (1): The fusion/coalescence tank has one or plural openings in an upper portion thereof, and the total area ratio of the openings is 5 cm.sup.2/m.sup.3 or more per unit amount of the aggregated particle dispersion liquid, (2): The aggregated particles are fused/coalesced in the fusion/coalescence tank in a state of reduced pressure within a range of (atmospheric pressure−0.5) kPa or less, (3): The aggregated particles are fused/coalesced in a state where a gas is blown into the fusion/coalescence tank with a wind volume of 5 L/(min.Math.m.sup.3) or more per unit amount of the aggregated particle dispersion liquid in the fusion/coalescence tank.

A method for producing a toner, including aggregating and coalescing resin particles and colorant particles. The resin particles contain a composite resin containing a polyester resin segment, an addition polymer resin segment which is an addition polymerized product of a raw material monomer containing a styrenic compound, and a structural unit derived from a bireactive monomer bonding to the polyester resin segment and the addition polymer resin segment via a covalent bond. The colorant particles contain a colorant and an addition polymer of a raw material monomer containing a styrenic compound. The addition polymer contains a structural unit derived from the styrenic compound in the main chain. A ratio by mass of the colorant to the addition polymer in the colorant particles is 50/50 or more and 95/5 or less.

Producing a resin particle dispersion using an apparatus including: two or more resin particle dispersion production lines each including an emulsification tank in which a resin is subjected to phase inversion emulsification using two or more organic solvents and an aqueous medium to obtain a phase-inverted emulsion, a distillation tank in which the organic solvents are removed from the phase-inverted emulsion by reduced pressure distillation to obtain a resin particle dispersion, and plural distillate collection tanks that collect distillates formed during the reduced pressure distillation according to respective target distillate compositions; and a reusable storage tank that collects and stores a distillate collected in at least one collection tank among the distillates collected in the plural collection tanks in each of the two or more production lines, and delivering the distillate to the emulsification tank in at least one production line to reuse the distillate for producing a phase-inverted emulsion.