向き合う

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 向き合う is read as むきあう and is an intransitive verb for facing one another or confronting an issue without avoiding it.
• Basic usage: The two sides can be the subject together, or the issue can be marked with と in 原因と向き合う.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Physical posture and figurative confrontation
  • Two people across a desk physically face one another, while facing a cause means dealing with the problem directly.
• Object between the participants
  • 机を挟んで identifies the desk between them; it does not make the desk the party being faced.