To raise of reading percentage by enhancing recognizing processing of town names and reducing rejection treatment.

In an address reading apparatus figures of a zip code are detected and cut by a zip code detecting-and-cutting section 23 from a zip code region line outputted by using an image input section 20, a region detecting section 21 and a line detecting-and-cutting section 22, and the zip code is obtained by a zip code recognizing section 25 and when a town name cannot be recognized by a town-name-recognizing section 27, the town name is obtained by using the obtained zip code to refer to a town region code dictionary 50.