Samurai Long Bow

[DaNinjew]

I hope this is the right section for this post, but I've been wondering about the effectiveness of of the Samurai Long Bow (I don't know the Japanese name for them) in battle while mounted. I've seen pics or artists renditions of Shogunate using them...they seem to be well suited for foot soldiers, similar to the English Long Bowmen, but they appear to to be far to large and unweildy for horse mounted Samurai. Most ancients armies chose smaller more compact but powerful bows for the horse born warriors, ie Mongols. One would think that with the smaller bows one could switch to alternate close range weapons easier.

[Maro]

I've read that the Japanese didn't have access to as much Horn and Sinew like the plains nomads. Hence they had to design their bows with much less powerful materials in mind.

The large size gave them the most power using Bamboo.

[kent enfield]

Yabusame

[David Craik]

Mat is correct, a short bow using their wood and bamboo laminate would not likely provide the power neccesary to pierce armor.

The assymetrical-limbed yumi is an ancient design - there is evidence of it dating back to the Yayoi period. However, generally it is not as powerful as the English longbow.

[fifthchamber]

Japanese bows are also top heavy, designed to be used while riding a horse, this means that the arrow is pulled at the low end rather than the bow centre and the bow was designed to flex in order to keep that balance. It's interesting to see it done in yabusame and the same principle applied to quick cavalry troops would certainly have been fearsome in the past...Since the Japanese never used to send up the dense fields of arrows (as the English and French archers certainly did) it makes sense that they are designed to be used from a horse and from close to middle ranges only, the idea being a quick sting rather than a blanket of fire...
You should see these guys ride...

[David Craik]

Since the Japanese never used to send up the dense fields of arrows (as the English and French archers certainly did) it makes sense that they are designed to be used from a horse and from close to middle ranges only

Hmmm, not too sure about that, Ben. Although mounted archery was the elite form of combat on the pre-Sengoku field, it is my understanding that archers on foot were often used to fire volleys into the massed enemy. Some even employed arrowheads that would whistle in flight to strike fear into the opponents.

[fifthchamber]

Hello Sir,
Really?Although suprising it is interesting to hear that said. I had not read much about that idea before and although I had heard about the whistling arrows and various arrow heads had not assumed that the Japanese used the same basic ideas as the soldiers on the fields in Europe had.
I was wrong, thank you for illuminating that!
Yours.

[fifthchamber]

Arse..
Having thought about this in the shower, I realised that I was entirely wrong with nearly all that I have written in this thread..Of course there is history, plenty of secondary evidence as well to prove this..
I can only guess that lifting up screaming 7 year olds all day has robbed me of cohesive thought..
Please ignore all that I wrote above, except the bit about being entirely wrong..
I need caffeine..And a week in the Bahamas..

[David Craik]

Heavens Ben, no need to call me 'sir'..LOL

[fifthchamber]

Okay, only if you promise not to call me "Heavens Ben"..They only use that name in the stripbars I go to in Singapore..And that was all an accident I promise ya..
Regards..