Pinkerton is the second album by the American rock band Weezer, released September 24, 1996. Rivers Cuomo, the band's lead singer and guitarist, wrote all of its songs, most of them after a painful leg surgery; as a result, they were written in first-position on his guitar's fretboard so that he would not have to move too much to play them.

Pinkerton is named after the character B.F. Pinkerton from Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and the album plays as a concept album based loosely around the opera. Like the Puccini opera, the album includes other references to Japan, Japanese people, and Japanese culture from the perspective of an outsider who considers Japan fragile and sensual. It was originally planned as Songs from the Black Hole, which Cuomo deemed a "space opera." The initial concept was scrapped, but the band incorporated several of the songs into Pinkerton. The artwork on the album's cover is Kambara yoru no yuki ("Night Snow at Kambara"), a print by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hiroshige.

The album was seen as a departure from the band's original power pop sound for a much darker and more abrasive sound. Upon its release in 1996, the album was considered a critical and commercial failure. However, in the years since its release the album's standing has improved considerably. It was the last Weezer album to feature bassist Matt Sharp, seen by some as an important contributor to the band's early sound.