It Is Safe, In This Instance, To Use The Old Play On Words, Old Meets New As Here We Have A Very Old Muromachi Koto Period Tanto Blade Mounted In 19th Century Mounts. This 8 Inch Long Tanto Blade Is From The "Old Sword" Or Koto Period. At Some Time In It's Long Life, It Was Slightly Shortened As Evidenced By The Dragon Horimono Extending Down Through The Tang. When Originally Shortened, The Bottom Hole Was Added To It, Then, At Some Point During The 1800's, It Was Remounted Again With The Addition Of A New, Smaller Hole And Remounted Into Its Current Form. This Shin Shinto Mounts Consist Of A Signed Brass Tsuba, Fuchi, Kashira, Kojiri And Kozuka. The Scabbard Of This Attractive Set Is Textured In Black Lacquers Accented With Black Horn Throat And Tie Down Kurigata, Another Attractive Feature Of This Sword Is Its Black Multi String Wrapped Handle, Ray Skin Panels And High Quality Fire Gilded Black Shakudo Menuki.