An image processing apparatus comprising: an image display device; pointed-position detecting means for accepting a contacting operation from a user via an operating surface provided on a display screen of the image display device, and detecting and outputting a position contacted by the contacting operation on the operating surface; storing means for storing image data; and display control means for displaying on the image display device an image according to the image data stored by the storing means, wherein when the contacting operation is made on the operating surface by the user, the display control means is configured to determine what kind of contacting operation has been made on the basis of a detection output from the pointed-position detecting means, is configured to start a display process of an image on the image display device according to the determined contacting operation, is configured to continue the display process when contacting on the operating surface continues successively from the contacting operation on the operating surface with no change in the position, and is configured to end the display process only when a contact of a finger or the like on the operating surface is released, wherein the display process performed according to a determined kind of contacting operation is one of - a scrolling process of a display image, - an enlarged display process of the display image, - a reduced display process of the display image, - a fast-forward playback process of a moving image, and - a fast-reverse playback process of the moving image. an image display device; pointed-position detecting means for accepting a contacting operation from a user via an operating surface provided on a display screen of the image display device, and detecting and outputting a position contacted by the contacting operation on the operating surface; storing means for storing image data; and display control means for displaying on the image display device an image according to the image data stored by the storing means, wherein when the contacting operation is made on the operating surface by the user, the display control means is configured to determine what kind of contacting operation has been made on the basis of a detection output from the pointed-position detecting means, is configured to start a display process of an image on the image display device according to the determined contacting operation, is configured to continue the display process when contacting on the operating surface continues successively from the contacting operation on the operating surface with no change in the position, and is configured to end the display process only when a contact of a finger or the like on the operating surface is released, wherein the display process performed according to a determined kind of contacting operation is one of - a scrolling process of a display image, - an enlarged display process of the display image, - a reduced display process of the display image, - a fast-forward playback process of a moving image, and - a fast-reverse playback process of the moving image. - a scrolling process of a display image, - an enlarged display process of the display image, - a reduced display process of the display image, - a fast-forward playback process of a moving image, and - a fast-reverse playback process of the moving image.