The orientation of the rotating direction of an optical fiber in an optical fiber array takes the positional axial displacement into consideration. In a method of aligning the orientation of optical fibers, or the axial displacement in an optical fiber array having a plurality of optical fibers, and an optical fiber holding member, an enlarged image of the optical fiber is obtained for each of the optical fibers using an image pick-up means. Then, a distribution of the characterized image corresponding to the positions in the radial direction of the image of the optical fiber are obtained from the enlarged image. From the distribution of the characterized image, the orientation of the rotational direction to the center of the optical fiber, or the positional axial displacement of the core center, is measured. Based on the measured result, the orientation of the rotational direction, or the positional axial displacement to the holding member of the optical fiber, is aligned with an optical fiber rotating mechanism.