1. An image processing apparatus, comprising: a storage configured to store, for a plurality of areas in a target image, attributes and patterns associated with the attributes, each of the attributes being assigned to each the plurality of areas, and each of the patterns being created from areas having an identical attribute among the attributes; and a processor configured to: obtain a first area that is specified among the plurality of areas in the target image and an attribute that is assigned to the first area, the target image having a second area among the plurality of areas that is outside of the first area, search the storage for a pattern of the first area based on similarity between the pattern and a pattern created from a number of areas having the assigned attribute, and search for the second area in the target image based on similarity between the second area and the number of areas in accordance with a predicted pattern identified based on the pattern of the first area resulting from the search of the storage, the predicted pattern including a geometric pattern of objects to which meta-data is assigned, and output, to a display device, a pattern identified based on the search for the second area.