Tsuruoka, city, Yamagata ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, in the Shōnai Plain. Tsuruoka developed as a castle town during the Tokugawa period (1603–1867), and most of its buildings are of that period. Traditional industries produce candles, silk textiles, and sake (rice wine). After the Meiji period (1868–1912), large textile and agricultural machinery factories became established. The city is also a distribution centre for rice and timber produced in the surrounding region.
Tsuruoka Park, on the old castle site, contains the Shōnai Shrine dedicated to the god of war. The city houses the Chido Museum, known for its collection of folk art, and the home in which the novelist and literary critic Takayama Rinjirō was born. Pop. (2005) 142,384; (2010) 136,623.