On June 2, 2025, the Gion Festival's Naginata Hoko Preservation Society (Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto City) announced that this year's young boy riding on the hoko will be Kubo Kento (8 years old), a third-grader at Doshisha Elementary School (Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City).

Kenta Kubo (center), who was chosen as a young boy for the Naginata Hoko, and his older brother Togo Okayama (right), who will serve as the Kamuro, and his younger brother Seita, at the Naginata Hoko Preservation Society in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto City, on June 2nd.

Twin brothers Okayama Togo (10 years old), a fourth-grader at Notre Dame Gakuin Elementary School (Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City), and Okayama Seita (10 years old), both from the city's Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, were selected to assist the young boy.

The Naginata Hoko leads the Yamahoko procession in the Saki Matsuri, held on July 17. The young boy will climb onto the hoko and perform the "Taihei no Mai" (Dance of Peace) while cutting the shimenawa rope stretched across Shijo Street.