Translation and Meaning of: 向け - muke

Explanation and Etymology - (向け) muke

向け is a Japanese word meaning "destined for" or "for". It is composed of the characters 向 (mukou), which means "direction" or "guidance", and け (ke), which is a suffix that indicates that something is intended for a specific purpose. The etymological origin of the word 向け dates back to the Heian period (794-1185), when Japan was under the strong influence of Chinese culture. At that time, the Japanese language still did not have its own writing system, and many words were written in Chinese characters. It was in this context that the character 向 began to be used to indicate the direction or orientation of something, and the suffix け was later added to indicate that something was intended for a specific purpose. Nowadays, the word 向け is widely used in Japanese to indicate that something is intended for a specific audience, such as "book for children" (子供向けの本, kodomo-muke no hon) or "product for women" (女性向けの製品, josei-muke no seihin). It can also be used to indicate that something is directed toward a specific goal, such as "beginner training" (初心者向けのトレーニング, shoshinsha-muke no training).