The Musashi Asuka Tanto has a blade of sharp high carbon steel. This tanto is ‘'Shirasaya' mounted – Japanese blades that were not to be used for some time were often removed from their typical ‘'Koshirae'' mountings of tsuba and wrapped tsuka, and mounted into the featureless shirasaya. Standard Koshirae were prone to accumulate moisture over time, hence the placement of the blade into a protective Shirasaya. Though Shirasaya mounting is primarily for storage, the blade is securely affixed and can still be used if necessary. The dagger size Tanto was a blade often kept on the person of a samurai whilst indoors. It was often a custom to remove a katana upon entering a home, but this custom had practicality, for the katana was often large and unwieldy indoors.