is Japanese novel written by Natsuo Kirino. The novel was serialized from 2019 to 2021 and published in print in March 2022. It was also adapted into a manga series and live-action television drama series.
Riki, a 29-year-old woman originally from Hokkaido, works as a temporary worker in Tokyo hospital. Having financial troubles, she learns about surrogacy and offers to become the surrogate mother of another couple, which are Kusaoke Motoi, a former ballet dancer, and his wife Yuko.
Swallows was published as a serialized novel from 2019 to 2021, and later as a full novel on March 4, 2022. It was released in English by Penguin Random House on September 9. 2025.
A live-action television drama adaptation aired on NHK General TV from April 30 to July 2, 2024.
A manga adaptation illustrated by Eri Sakai was serialized in Shueisha's Cocohana magazine on February 28, 2024 to January 26, 2026.
Swallows won two awards, the Mainichi Art Award in 2022 and the Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Award in 2023.
Financial Times<nowiki/>' Catherine Taylor gave it a positive review, calling it a "A witty portrayal of surrogacy that confronts the injustices of class and gender imbalances in Japanese society"