Suppose you are somewhere in this picture and if your Japanese friend asks you “ポーチ(は)どこ？(Where is ポーチ?)” Where would you look first?
ポーチ sounds like the English word “porch”, so if you are an English speaker, you may point at the gallery high up. Would you?
However, I don’t think what your friend is looking for is up there. The Katakana word ポーチ is usually used as a shortened form of 化粧（けしょう）ポーチ, which is a makeup bag or a vanity bag. A little bag people carry around their waist (or attach to a waist belt) is called ウエストポーチ in Japanese. In these cases, ポーチ comes from the English word “pouch.”
Having said that, sound-wise, “pouch” should have been transliterated as パウチ and in fact laminating pouches and/or pouches for food are called パウチ.
Do you find it confusing? I do but unfortunately I cannot change it!
