へ
e
へ never arrives. It only faces.
The picture Turning your body toward something. Nobody asks whether you got there — only which way you face. へ is the way your face is turned; に is the point you reach and stick to.
Where the picture shows up in へ
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the way you are heading
空港へ向かっています。
kūkō e mukatte imasu
We're on our way to the airport.
The airport sign coming into the windscreen as the wheel turns that way
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the way you are shown
こちらへどうぞ。
kochira e dōzo
This way, please.
An open palm held out toward one end of the corridor while you step aside for them
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the way home
来月国へ帰ります。
raigetsu kuni e kaerimasu
I'm going back to my country next month.
Standing with your bags on, turned toward the gate for home
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the way your heart turns
お母さんへ手紙を書きました。
okāsan e tegami o kakimashita
I wrote a letter to my mother.
Your mother's name written on the front of the envelope, and the envelope sent off that way
On an envelope, へ is more usual than に — it reads as the letter travelling toward that person.
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the way your body moves
一歩前へ出てください。
ippo mae e dete kudasai
Please step forward one step.
Your whole body squared toward the empty space ahead, one foot dropping into it
All of it in one picture
へ is an arrow showing which way you are turned. The wheel turns toward the airport and you are heading for the airport; a palm opens toward the corridor and it becomes 'this way, please'; your bags face the gate for home and you are going back to your country. Write your mother's name on the envelope and your heart turns that way; move one toe forward and your body turns that way. Nobody asks whether you arrived — へ only names the way you face.