In the town of Yokoshima, Tamana City, there is a folk song that has been handed down to the present day, called Yokoshima Gata-ina-ibushi. 'Gata-inai' is the work of piling up lagoon soil on top of the embankment during land reclamation work (the soil and sand near the embankment is put into special baskets, known as 'buri', and carried by hand). This work was done manually until the early Showa period (Showa 1926 - 1989) when civil engineering machines became common. It is said that the Gatainaibushi originated from a song that was sung to keep the workers in rhythm with each other during this work, and has been handed down from place to place in Kyushu. After the Meiji period (1868-1912), dances were choreographed in various parts of Japan and spread with shamisen and drums. The word "gata" in 'gata-inai' originally meant a tidal flat, but over time came to mean the soil of a tidal flat. Nowadays, not only the soil of the tidal flats, but also the soil of the paddy fields is called 'gata' by the residents of Yokoshima Town. It is said that the origins of the Gata-inai-bushi tradition in Yokoshima go all the way back to the construction of new land by Kiyomasa Kato (the Lord of Kumamoto from 1588 -1611). Later, from the Edo period to the Meiji period, the song was sung and passed down from generation to generation during land reclamation work. There is no record of what the original song was like. It is thought that the lyrics have changed over time. There is a related article about Yokoshima Gata-inai-bushi in the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun (the Kumamoto Daily Newspaper) dated June 18, 1967. On the occasion of the completion ceremony of the Yokoshima tidal barrier, the dance choreographed to the traditional Gata-inai-bushi was performed for the first time. The lyrics were newly composed to commemorate the completion of the construction.