1. An image recognition apparatus, comprising: a storage unit, using a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which stores a plurality of pieces of identical recognition reference data which are used as references for recognizing a specific object from an image; an image recognition unit, using a processor, which recognizes the specific object in images acquired by an image acquisition unit by switching between the plurality of pieces of identical recognition reference data stored in the storage unit, on a frame basis for consecutive frames of the images acquired by the image acquisition unit; a recognition determining unit, using the processor, which, on condition that recognition results obtained by the image recognition unit by using the plurality of pieces of identical recognition reference data meet a predetermined matching condition, outputs the recognition results as effective recognition results; an examining unit, using the processor, which examines a presence or an absence of a fault in a plurality of pieces of recognition reference data stored in the storage unit; and a recovery unit, using the processor, which recovers the plurality of pieces of identical recognition reference data if the examining unit determines that there is a fault.