The cape has become synonymous with drama. In the Italian fencing tradition, it served as a shield and a distraction. The Japanese had their own useful cape, the horo, which resembled a small parachute:
Horo were used as far back as the Kamakura period (1185–1333).
When inflated the horo was said to protect the wearer from arrows shot from the side and from behind.
Wearing a horo is also said to have marked the wearer as a messenger (tsukai-ban) or person of importance. According to the Hosokawa Yusai Oboegaki, the diary of Hosokawa Yusai (1534–1610) taking of an elite tsukai-ban messenger’s head was a worthy prize. “When taking the head of a horo warrior, wrap it in the silk of the horo. In the case of an ordinary warrior, wrap it in the silk of the sashimono”.
(Hat tip to Wrath of Gnon.)
The Japanese warrior on horseback with lance was an important aspect of the samurai tradition. As to the joust I am not sure.