The Gion Festival's Nagatoboku (Shijo-dori Karasuma Higashi-iru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto City) held a "Yui-no-gi" ceremony to welcome this year's young boy, Kento Kubo (8 years old), to the town on June 14, 2025, in Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City. The young boy's father stated his determination to take on the important role in front of the officials of the Nagatoboku Preservation Society.
An altar was set up in a room at Kubo Shoji (Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City), a Japanese clothing accessory manufacturer and retailer run by his father, Takahiro Kubo (40 years old). The ceremony was attended by the young boy, his twin brothers Togo Okayama (10 years old) and Seita Okayama (10 years old), who are kamuro (head of the shrine), and their families.
After a priest from Yasaka Shrine (Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto City) purified the altar and the shrine building, the preservation society officials, the young boy, and the kamuro's family sat facing each other in front of the altar. Toshiro Inoue (68 years old), chairman of the Nagatoboku Preservation Society, presented Takahiro with a betrothal gift, saying, "Congratulations on accepting the important role of the boy." Takahiro replied, "The long Gion Festival is about to begin, but I will work hard together with the Tobuka family to serve them."
