Actually, if given Kaguya is short in this image... ...that's just about right for a Dai-Kyuu. If you look at the bow in the farthest left of the image, you can see that it's beginning to curve back, making about 1.25 times her height. Traditional Japanese (Great) Longbow.
warellis said: Was this the kind used as cavalry bows by samurai?
Yes, but it was also used as a foot archer's bow as well. I can't remember exactly, it's been a few years since I studied Kyudo, but I think this style of thicker Daikyuu was more common the farther south you went... although, I admit, I may have this backwards.
I should point out that most Yumi [generic Japanese term for 'Bow' (weapon)] are actually Daikyuu. I used the term to differentiate between the much shorter (and less common) Hankyuu, which is just about a ‘normal’ (in a westerner’s sense) bow’s length which is roughly 3 to 4 feet long [about 1 meter]. Aside from that, they look exactly like a Daikyuu, asymmetry included. Hankyuu were hunters’ bows, Daikyuu were soldiers’ bows... at least, that’s what my instructor told me.
