james_nicoll

Interesting, thanks.

"Splitting the previous guy's arrow" is a trope in Western movies... maybe in Japan, too?

I never know how to search TV Tropes once I have thought of a trope I am curious about.

There's sword-cutting in Japanese stories, where a swordsman's skill and spirit allows him to cut through his opponent's sword. How truthful or based in reality it is I don't know. I don't think there's an arrow-splitting equivalent in Japanese stories, or at least it's not common. The US has the "bullet-hole" story idea where a shooter puts their shot through a previous competitor's bullethole or on top of their bullet in the buttstop -- Mark Twain quoted Fenimore Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans" with some ascerbic incredulity on this subject.

A quick look around the Web reveals the Japanese horse archery I referred to is known as Yabasume. You'll find details and videos on Youtube -- it's still done today as part of religious festivals at various shrines. The archer rides a horse schooled to gallop "hands-off" while they draw and fire at head-sized targets to one side of the track. It's interesting to compare the videos with the start of the Japanese version of the Brave trailer.