The rate of water penetration into tipping paper is an important physical property in the printing, coating and gluing process. However, tipping paper is so thin that it is difficult to measure the penetration rate in the 'thickness' direction accurately. Thus, a novel method for measurement of the penetration rate was developed. A sample block composed of 90 piled sheets of tip paper was placed between metal electrodes. After supplying water from the bottom of the sample block, the inter-electrode capacitance was monitored. The obtained value was converted into the penetration height using a calibration curve. However, the application of this method is limited to slow penetration rates only, and the distinction between samples became unclear with increasing penetration rate. To correct for this the method was improved. The sample block was replaced with one comprised of one sheet of tipping paper and 7 sheets of filter paper piled up on it. This new approach allowed measurement of a broad range of penetration rates. Furthermore, the time required for penetration throughout the whole sheet of tip paper could be calculated from the initial data of an experimental penetration curve on the basis of a theoretical analysis. As a result, it was concluded that the developed method would be useful in the characterization of thin paper materials with respect to water penetration.