Frames constituting an input moving picture are extracted by a frame extraction unit, the extracted frames are compared and scene changes in the moving picture are discriminated by a scene-change discrimination unit. Scene-change information relating to specific scene changes is stored in a scene-change information storage unit. An image corresponding to a scene that is the object of a search is designated from a pattern-image designation unit. The designated image is compared with scene-change frames obtained by referring to the scene-change information that has been stored in the scene-change storage unit, and a scene corresponding to the image is extracted by a scene extraction unit based upon results of the comparison.