Patent ID: 8053155

Claim:
A toner comprising columnar toner matrix particles manufactured through: a kneading step of melt-kneading toner raw materials including at least a binder resin, a colorant and a release agent to thereby prepare a kneaded product; a spinning step of extruding the kneaded product from orifices disposed at a tip of a spinning nozzle to thereby prepare a fibrous kneaded product; and a pulverizing step of cutting or pulverizing the fibrous kneaded product, the columnar toner matrix particles each having an aspect ratio H/L of 0.5 or more and 5.0 or less where L represents a length of longitudinal bottom surface of each of the columnar toner matrix particles and H represents a height of the respective columnar toner matrix particles, the columnar toner matrix particles having d B /d 50 of 0.5 or above where d B represents a reduced particle size determined from a BET specific surface area and a true density and d 50 represents a particle size corresponding to a cumulative volume of 50% counted from a greater particle-size side in cumulative volume distribution, the toner further comprising an external additive composed of large particles and small particles having a volume average particle size smaller than that of the large particles, and the columnar toner matrix particles each having, in a surface thereof, 10 or less reentrants whose apertures have a longer length in a minor axis thereof than a radius of the respective large particles.