A yarn winding machine comprising: a holding section configured to rotatably hold a package; a contact section capable of contacting a surface of the package; a moving section capable of moving the package between a position at which the package is in contact with the contact section and a position at which the package is separated from the contact section; a yarn catching section capable of moving near or away from the surface of the package and catching a yarn end of the package; a surface position information acquiring section (44, 81) configured to acquire surface position information indicative of a position of the surface of the package; and a control section configured to control a movement of the yarn catching section, and, in a separated state in which the package is separated from the contact section by the moving section, to move the yarn catching section near the surface of the package based on the surface position information acquired by the surface position information acquiring section (44, 81) so that a distance of the yarn catching section from the surface of the package is equal to a predetermined distance, wherein the holding section includes a pivoting shaft and is pivotable around the pivoting shaft, the moving section is configured to pivot the holding section around the pivoting shaft to move the package between the position at which the package is in contact with the contact section and the position at which the package is separated from the contact section, and characterised in that the surface position information acquiring section is an angle sensor that is configured to detect a rotation angle of the holding section around the pivoting shaft as the surface position information. a holding section configured to rotatably hold a package; a contact section capable of contacting a surface of the package; a moving section capable of moving the package between a position at which the package is in contact with the contact section and a position at which the package is separated from the contact section; a yarn catching section capable of moving near or away from the surface of the package and catching a yarn end of the package; a surface position information acquiring section (44, 81) configured to acquire surface position information indicative of a position of the surface of the package; and a control section configured to control a movement of the yarn catching section, and, in a separated state in which the package is separated from the contact section by the moving section, to move the yarn catching section near the surface of the package based on the surface position information acquired by the surface position information acquiring section (44, 81) so that a distance of the yarn catching section from the surface of the package is equal to a predetermined distance, wherein the holding section includes a pivoting shaft and is pivotable around the pivoting shaft, the moving section is configured to pivot the holding section around the pivoting shaft to move the package between the position at which the package is in contact with the contact section and the position at which the package is separated from the contact section, and characterised in that the surface position information acquiring section is an angle sensor that is configured to detect a rotation angle of the holding section around the pivoting shaft as the surface position information.