あそこ

Japanese

Alternative spelling
彼処

Shift from earlier あしこ (ashiko). The asoko form appears in the Utsubo Monogatari of the late 900s, during the Heian period.^[1]

あそこ • (asoko)

(deictically) that place, area, or part over there (far from the speaker and the addressee)
私(わたし)の子(こ)供(ども)はあそこで遊(あそ)んでいますよ。
Watashi no kodomo wa asoko de asonde imasu yo.
My child is playing over there.
(deictically) that organization or team over there (far from the speaker and the addressee)
(anaphorically) that place, area, or part we both know (both the speaker and the addressee know)
(anaphorically) that organization or team we both know (both the speaker and the addressee know)
(slang, by extension from the sense of “down there”) genitals

The hiragana spelling あそこ is preferred to the kanji spelling 彼処, which is rarely used.
あそこ, as a meaning of place, is mostly followed by some particles with verbs as follows.
あそこに: with verbs of movement (go, come, move, transfer, ...) or verbs of existence(be, exist, stay, ...).

あそこへ: with verbs of movement (go, come, move, transfer, ...).

あそこで: with the other verbs.

Japanese demonstratives
	ko- “this” (close to speaker)	so- “that” (close to listener)	a- “that over there” (far from both)	do- “which” (indeterminate, question)
Object	これ (kore)	それ (sore)	あれ (are)	どれ (dore)
Object	これら (korera)	それら (sorera)	あれら (arera)	—
Determiner	この (kono)	その (sono)	あの (ano)	どの (dono)
Determiner	これらの (korera no)	それらの (sorera no)	あれらの (arera no)	—
Kind	こんな (konna)	そんな (sonna)	あんな (anna)	どんな (donna)
Kind	こういう (kō iu)	そういう (sō iu)	ああいう (ā iu)	どういう (dō iu)
Place	ここ (koko)	そこ (soko)	あそこ (asoko)*	どこ (doko)
Place	こっから (kokkara)	そっから (sokkara)	—	どっから (dokkara)
Direction / Human	こちら (kochira)	そちら (sochira)	あちら (achira)	どちら (dochira)
Direction / Human	こなた (konata)	そなた (sonata)	あなた (anata)	どなた (donata)
Direction	こっち (kotchi)	そっち (sotchi)	あっち (atchi)	どっち (dotchi)
Human	こいつ (koitsu)^†	そいつ (soitsu)^†	あいつ (aitsu)^†	どいつ (doitsu)^†
Manner	こう (kō)	そう (sō)	ああ (ā)**	どう (dō)
Degree	これくらい (kore kurai)	それくらい (sore kurai)	あれくらい (are kurai)	どれくらい (dore kurai)
	これだけ (kore dake)	それだけ (sore dake)	あれだけ (are dake)	どれだけ (dore dake)
	これほど (kore hodo)	それほど (sore hodo)	あれほど (are hodo)	どれほど (dore hodo)

* irregular
** regular (long vowel)
† potentially rude or derogatory

The kanji 此(こ) (ko), 其(そ) (so), 彼(あ) (a), and 何(ど) (do) can be used for determiners, but they are almost always spelled in hiragana.

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 “あそ‐こ【彼処】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1974), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Second edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 Nakai, Yukihiko, editor (2002), 京阪系アクセント辞典 [A Dictionary of Tone on Words of the Keihan-type Dialects] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Bensei, →ISBN