A motion vector searching apparatus to which a reference image, an object image and weight parameters for the reference image are inputted and searches a motion vector based thereon is provides. The motion vector searching apparatus includes an inverse weighting section that generates an inverse weighted object image by performing, on the object image using the weight parameter, a weighting inverse from a weighting performed on the reference image using the weight parameter; an image comparing section that compares the generated inverse weighted object image with the reference image to obtain a comparison value indicating a degree of approximation between the two images; and a determination section that determines an optimum motion vector from the comparison value.