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The character 夫 originally depicted a man (大) with a hairpin in his hair, representing an adult male who had reached maturity. In ancient China, men would wear their hair in a bun secured with a hairpin upon coming of age, typically around 20 years old. This character evolved from this concrete representation to mean 'husband,' 'man,' or even as a particle in classical Chinese. The modern kanji 夫 retains the basic structure of 大 (big) with an added horizontal stroke representing the hairpin. Arrived in Japan: The character 夫 likely arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE, when the Japanese writing system was developing and adopting Chinese characters (kanji) through cultural exchange with China and Korea, particularly during the Asuka period when Buddhist texts and Chinese classics were introduced to Japan.