ここ= here こっち= "this direction" in casual form , こちら="this direction" in polite form. そこ=there, そっち="that direction" in casual form, そちら="that direction" in polite form あそこ=there, あっち="that direction" in casual form, あちら="that direction" in polite form Yes, そこ and あそこ are basically same. There are slight difference depending on usage. I'm not linguist so it may be wrong. But when I chose あそこ instead of そこ, あそこ is targeting more particular place than そこ. In case I use そっち and あっち as a pair, direction of そっち and あっち tend to be opposite. I hope this answer contribute to improve your understanding of your question.