An image processing apparatus includes: a candidate region detection unit configured to detect, from an image acquired by imaging inside a lumen of a living body, a candidate region for a specific region that is a region where a specific part in the lumen has been captured; a candidate region information acquiring unit configured to acquire information related to the candidate region detected by the candidate region detection unit; an identification means determination unit configured to determine an identification means for identification of, based on the information related to the candidate region, whether or not the candidate region is the specific region; and an identification unit configured to identify whether or not the candidate region is the specific region by using the identification means determined by the identification means determination unit.