Yoko Ogawa’s text Old Mrs. J is based on misconception. It is based on the incorrect premise that every example of a type of thing or person thinks or acts in the same way, or is the same way. Throughout the text, Ogawa gradually unravels the stereotype of elderly women being perceived as gentle, kind, and loving.  Not everything is as it seems or is perceived to be. There is more than meets the eye. 

All through Old Mrs. J, many things do not turn out to be as they seem. It begins and ends with Mrs. J’s garden. Gardens are normally regarded as harmonious, calm, and tranquil places where one might take part in a potentially enjoyable and relaxing activity. Mrs. J’s own garden seems to fall in line with the general view early in the text when Mrs. J herself is “much more at ease” while tending to her crop (Ogawa 1). At this early point in the story, the garden gives off so much of a vibrant, youthful vibe that even the narrator believes that Mrs. J is a “different woman” in the garden (Ogawa 1). As quickly as Ogawa starts to follow the common understanding, however, she starts to break it almost immediately when Mrs. J complains to the narrator about the stray cat. Pine needles, which represent death, negativity, and secrecy now cover the garden. Upon the discovery of Mrs. J’s husband’s body in the vegetable patch, the perception is completely abandoned. The formerly young, positive, and relaxing area inside the U shaped building now has a dark, deathly stigma attached to it, and its owner is nowhere to be found. 

Another perception is broken when the narrator witnesses Mrs. J carrying an overstuffed box down to the abandoned post office. Abandoned buildings are perceived to be dilapidated, vacant, and potentially unstable structures that are awaiting demolition. The abandoned post office in the passage follows this commonality, possibly excluding the demolition aspect, until the narrator witnesses Mrs. J carrying an overstuffed box toward the building. This is when the post office gains a certain peculiarity. Before the narrator witnesses Mrs. J carrying the box, it is observed that Mrs. J’s kiwis are growing on trees one day, and are absent the next day. Shortly after this, Mrs. J complains to the narrator about the stray cat. Toward the end of the story, “a mountain” of kiwis are found in the abandoned post office on top of the cat’s corpse (Ogawa 5). Now, instead of being the insignificant building that the post office was thought out to be, it is now plagued by death, like the garden. 

Around the middle of the story, after Mrs. J gives the generously sized man a massage, she excitedly comes into the narrator’s apartment, holding a carrot. It is noticed that the carrot is oddly shaped like a chunky hand, that the carrot itself feels like flesh when cut, and that the supposed “greens” look like lace from a person’s clothes (Ogawa 3). Soon after, Mrs. J “finds” more of these carrots. When Mrs. J’s husband’s handless corpse is discovered in the garden, it is realized that the “carrots” never were in fact carrots and were actual human hands, and it can be inferred that the original chubby hand belongs to the man Mrs. J gave a massage to. No longer intriguing or potentially exciting, the carrots also succumb to death and become symbols of murder. 

When Mrs. J describes her husband to the narrator and reader, she gives him negative connotations and describes the man as a lowlife alcoholic with a gambling addiction that died during a day at the beach. The reader and the narrator have no choice but to believe this, however, near the end of the text, Mrs. J’s husband’s body is found in her orchard. Now Mrs. J’s original account of her husband can be disputed and questioned. There is a possibility that Mr. J was a perfectly stable and loving husband, but for some reason, Mrs. J ceased to like him or wanted something of his, so she chose to murder him. There is a possibility that Mr. J was in fact a drunk gambler, but he did not die at the beach and Mrs. J killed him instead. Once again, what is originally presented does not, at least completely, turn out to be the truth. 

Finally, there is Mrs. J herself. Elderly women are thought of as gentle, kind, motherly, and clumsy people. Initially, Mrs. J fits this perception when the narrator sees her as the landlady that is “unsteady on her feet” and “constantly bumping into chairs” (Ogawa 1). Mrs. J gets increasingly less motherly-like as the text goes on. While witnessing Mrs. J give the man a massage, she notes that it almost looks as if she is watching a strangulation. Later on, Mrs. J knowingly almost kills the narrator when giving her a massage, which shows that she is uncharacteristically strong for who she is. Another example of this is when she is witnessed carrying the box down to the post office. It is clearly shown that the box could not normally be easily carried by an elderly woman like Mrs. J, yet she almost carried it the entire way with ease, even if she was nervous. However, at the very end of the text, Mrs. J is genuinely nervous, and this is apparent to the narrator also, as it is illustrated that “everything seemed to be coming apart” and that Mrs. J “looked almost frightened” while taking a picture with the narrator (Ogawa 4, 5). The narrator also notes that her “expression was tense” (Ogawa 5). By the end of the text, Mrs. J has also gone missing and there is no reason for an elderly woman to suddenly disappear without any previous symptoms of dementia or other common illness in the elderly. Mr. J’s decomposing corpse is at least one reason why Mrs. J has gone missing and there is no logical reason for anyone to have a dead body in their garden either. The dead body finally confirms to the narrator that Mrs. J is not a normal grandma that is weak, caring, or kind. 

Each little instance where a common idea is fragmented helps build onto the fact that Old Mrs. J is built on misinterpretation. From the garden to the post office, to Mrs. J’s husband and finally to Mrs. J herself, it is constantly shown that not all things or people turn out to be as they initially appear. Common ideas about people and things are embedded in our minds, and we do not expect these perceptions to be challenged or disputed. There are objects and people who are not as they seem. 
