Police Officer Doesn't Believe Nakata's Confession (Dramatic Irony)
After Nakata stabs Johnnie Walker to death with a steak knife, he goes to the police station to turn himself in for the crime. Even though Nakata explains every aspect of what happened with accuracy, the officer at the station cannot believe the absurd details and he assumes Nakata is mentally ill. He sends Nakata away without investigating the crime, only to discover two days later that a man had been murdered with a steak knife. In this instance of dramatic irony, the reader—having witnessed the previous scene—knows that Nakata is telling the truth; meanwhile, the police officer remains oblivious.
Plotlines Converge at Komura Memorial Library (Dramatic Irony)
Toward the end of the novel, Hoshino and Nakata drive around Takamatsu in a rented car. Nakata looks out the window, hoping to see the place he needs to go next—something he will not recognize until he is looking right at it. After failing to turn off at the right exit, Hoshino accidentally drives them to a wealthy residential neighborhood. He pulls over in a parking lot. When Nakata reads the sign "Komura Memorial Library," he realizes this is where he needed to go next. In this instance of dramatic irony, the reader knows that much of the primary plot of the novel has taken place at the library, because Kafka has been hiding out there. The reader understands before any of the characters that the novel's parallel plot lines are about to converge.
Hoshino Can Talk to Cats (Situational Irony)
After Nakata dies in his sleep, Hoshino is left without a plan or any idea of what to do next to close the entrance stone. Eventually, a black cat named Toro arrives on his balcony. Hoshino greets the cat and is surprised to learn that the cat can talk with him—an ability Nakata had mentioned having several times. In this instance of situational irony, Hoshino discovers that Nakata's ability to speak with cats has transferred to Hoshino upon Nakata's death.
Kafka Tries to Escape the Curse By Fulfilling It (Situational Irony)
At the outset of the novel, Kafka runs away from home in order to escape the Oedipal curse his father put on him when Kafka was younger. However, Kafka finds that during his journey away from home he is compelled to fulfill elements of the prophecy by seeming to have killed his father through the surrogates of Nakata and Johnnie Walker and by having sex with the mother and daughter stand-in figures of Miss Saeki and Sakura. In this example of situational irony, the act of leaving home puts Kafka on an even clearer path toward fulfilling the curse he tried to outrun.
