1. An information processing apparatus for searching a plurality of sets for a desired element, comprising: common representative point setting means for setting common representative points that are a predetermined number of elements of a set obtained by averaging features of said plurality of sets; neighborhood table creation means for creating, for each of said plurality of sets, a neighborhood table that is table information associated with elements of each of said plurality of sets located in the neighborhood of each common representative point on the basis of said common representative points set by said common representative point setting means; and search means for searching elements registered in said neighborhood table created by said neighborhood table creation means for a desired element.