An image recognition device comprising: image acquiring means for acquiring an image; wherein the image recognition device is configured to create an expanded image which is larger than the acquired image and includes the acquired image and a margin region added to a periphery of the acquired image, wherein the expanded image is created by subjecting each side of the acquired image in the vertical direction to expansion corresponding to n% of a reference size and subjecting each side of the acquired image in the horizontal direction to expansion corresponding to m% of the reference size, wherein the reference size is a size of a first detection window which is set using as its lower end a first reference line which corresponds to a distance from the image acquiring means to a subject and is set to the lowermost portion of the acquired image in the horizontal direction to the acquired image, wherein values of n and m are determined in accordance with a reference image of a recognition target; reference line setting means for setting a second reference line in the expanded image, wherein the second reference line corresponds to the distance from the image acquiring means to the subject and is at least partially placed in the margin region, in the horizontal direction to the acquired image; detection window setting means for setting a second detection window using the second reference line as its lower end; window image acquiring means for acquiring a window image of a region of the expanded image, which is included in the set second detection window; reference feature data acquiring means for acquiring reference feature data stored in advance, representing features of the recognition target in the acquired image, wherein the reference feature data have been extracted from the reference image of the recognition target, wherein the reference image has the same size as the window image; window image feature data extracting means for extracting window image feature data representing features of the window image from the acquired window image; determining means for determining whether the recognition target is included in the acquired window image by comparing the acquired reference feature data with the extracted window image feature data, while moving the second detection window along the reference line; and output means for outputting a determination result provided by the determination, wherein the subject is a person standing at a distance and wherein the first detection window and the second detection window are set to a size which allows an entire body to be fitted in when a person is standing at a distance defined by, respectively, the first reference line and the second reference line. image acquiring means for acquiring an image; wherein the image recognition device is configured to create an expanded image which is larger than the acquired image and includes the acquired image and a margin region added to a periphery of the acquired image, wherein the expanded image is created by subjecting each side of the acquired image in the vertical direction to expansion corresponding to n% of a reference size and subjecting each side of the acquired image in the horizontal direction to expansion corresponding to m% of the reference size, wherein the reference size is a size of a first detection window which is set using as its lower end a first reference line which corresponds to a distance from the image acquiring means to a subject and is set to the lowermost portion of the acquired image in the horizontal direction to the acquired image, wherein values of n and m are determined in accordance with a reference image of a recognition target; reference line setting means for setting a second reference line in the expanded image, wherein the second reference line corresponds to the distance from the image acquiring means to the subject and is at least partially placed in the margin region, in the horizontal direction to the acquired image; detection window setting means for setting a second detection window using the second reference line as its lower end; window image acquiring means for acquiring a window image of a region of the expanded image, which is included in the set second detection window; reference feature data acquiring means for acquiring reference feature data stored in advance, representing features of the recognition target in the acquired image, wherein the reference feature data have been extracted from the reference image of the recognition target, wherein the reference image has the same size as the window image; window image feature data extracting means for extracting window image feature data representing features of the window image from the acquired window image; determining means for determining whether the recognition target is included in the acquired window image by comparing the acquired reference feature data with the extracted window image feature data, while moving the second detection window along the reference line; and output means for outputting a determination result provided by the determination, wherein the subject is a person standing at a distance and wherein the first detection window and the second detection window are set to a size which allows an entire body to be fitted in when a person is standing at a distance defined by, respectively, the first reference line and the second reference line.