Chūō (中央市, Chūō-shi) is a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.

Chūō is located near the geographic center of the Kōfu Plateau of central Yamanashi Prefecture, hence its name which means "centre" in Japanese.

[2] Per Japanese census data,[3] the population of Chūō has recently plateaued after several decades of growth.

Chūō has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 18 members.

The economy of Chūō is dominated by agriculture, with rice, corn and tomatoes as the major cash crops.