A rotary screen printing press including an impression cylinder, a screen cylinder formed of a cylindrically-shaped screen plate, a squeegee retained inside the screen cylinder, screen-cylinder throw-on/off motors that move the screen cylinder via screen cylinder devices (202, 203, 204) to bring the screen cylinder into and out of contact with the impression cylinder, the screen cylinder devices (202, 203, 204) retaining the screen cylinder while allowing the screen cylinder to swing, and squeegee throw-on/off motors that move the squeegee via squeegee devices (222, 223) to bring the squeegee into and out of contact with an inner circumferential surface of the screen plate, the squeegee devices (222, 223) retaining the squeegee while allowing the squeegee to swing, wherein the impression cylinder retains and transports a sheet and wherein the rotary screen printing press further comprises: a screen cylinder position detector that detects a position of the screen cylinder, a squeegee position detector that detects a position of the squeegee, and a control unit that controls the screen-cylinder throw-on/off motors and the squeegee throw-on/off motors based on the position of the screen cylinder detected by the screen cylinder position detector and the position of the squeegee detected by the squeegee position detector so that the squeegee does not contact the screen plate except when the screen cylinder is in contact with the impression cylinder, wherein the control unit controls the screen-cylinder throw-on/off motors and the squeegee throw-on/off motors so that, within a period when the screen cylinder and a certain notched portion in the impression cylinder face each other, either an action of throwing the screen cylinder on the impression cylinder and an action of throwing the squeegee on the screen plate are completed, or an action of throwing the squeegee off the screen plate and an action of throwing the screen cylinder off the impression cylinder are started. an impression cylinder, a screen cylinder formed of a cylindrically-shaped screen plate, a squeegee retained inside the screen cylinder, screen-cylinder throw-on/off motors that move the screen cylinder via screen cylinder devices (202, 203, 204) to bring the screen cylinder into and out of contact with the impression cylinder, the screen cylinder devices (202, 203, 204) retaining the screen cylinder while allowing the screen cylinder to swing, and squeegee throw-on/off motors that move the squeegee via squeegee devices (222, 223) to bring the squeegee into and out of contact with an inner circumferential surface of the screen plate, the squeegee devices (222, 223) retaining the squeegee while allowing the squeegee to swing, wherein the impression cylinder retains and transports a sheet and wherein the rotary screen printing press further comprises: a screen cylinder position detector that detects a position of the screen cylinder, a squeegee position detector that detects a position of the squeegee, and a control unit that controls the screen-cylinder throw-on/off motors and the squeegee throw-on/off motors based on the position of the screen cylinder detected by the screen cylinder position detector and the position of the squeegee detected by the squeegee position detector so that the squeegee does not contact the screen plate except when the screen cylinder is in contact with the impression cylinder, wherein the control unit controls the screen-cylinder throw-on/off motors and the squeegee throw-on/off motors so that, within a period when the screen cylinder and a certain notched portion in the impression cylinder face each other, either an action of throwing the screen cylinder on the impression cylinder and an action of throwing the squeegee on the screen plate are completed, or an action of throwing the squeegee off the screen plate and an action of throwing the screen cylinder off the impression cylinder are started. a screen cylinder position detector that detects a position of the screen cylinder, a squeegee position detector that detects a position of the squeegee, and a control unit that controls the screen-cylinder throw-on/off motors and the squeegee throw-on/off motors based on the position of the screen cylinder detected by the screen cylinder position detector and the position of the squeegee detected by the squeegee position detector so that the squeegee does not contact the screen plate except when the screen cylinder is in contact with the impression cylinder, wherein the control unit controls the screen-cylinder throw-on/off motors and the squeegee throw-on/off motors so that, within a period when the screen cylinder and a certain notched portion in the impression cylinder face each other, either an action of throwing the screen cylinder on the impression cylinder and an action of throwing the squeegee on the screen plate are completed, or an action of throwing the squeegee off the screen plate and an action of throwing the screen cylinder off the impression cylinder are started.