A vacuum processing apparatus includes: a plurality of carriers to be mounted with a base member; a circulation path which is kept in a controlled atmosphere and through which the carriers circulate; a plurality of base member loading and unloading chambers which are disposed in the circulation path and which load and unload the base member to and from the carriers; and a plurality of vacuum processing chambers which are disposed between the base member loading and unloading chambers in the circulation path for performing a vacuum process on the base member.