To extract a fingerprint core for alignment of a fingerprint image for fingerprint matching. The present invention comprises: a core extraction unit which has an endpoint processing function of generating an endpoint image by extracting bifurcations in skeleton image and subjecting the respective bifurcations to endpoint processing; and a skeleton image generation/extraction unit which extracts skeletons of a density-inverted image formed by inverting the density colors of the generated end point image from white to black and vice versa, and performs processing for generating the skeleton image, the core extraction unit being provided with a core determination function of specifying a skeleton pixel having the highest value of a loop score indicating the degree of a bend in a skeleton shape in the density-inverted image, and defining this skeleton pixel as the finger print core.