Kubo was born inChikuzen, Fukuoka on June 18, 1976. After graduating from high school, he joinedSanfrecce Hiroshima in 1995. He debuted in 1996 and became a regular striker asTakuya Takagi successor from 1998. However the club was relegated toJ2 League in 2002. He moved toYokohama F. Marinos in 2003. In 2003, the club won the championsJ1 League. He was also selected Best Eleven and Japanese Footballer of the Year awards. However his opportunity to play decreased for low back pain from 2004. He moved toYokohama FC in 2007. However the club was relegated to J2 League and he also did not play many matches. After that, he returned toSanfrecce Hiroshima in 2008 and moved toZweigen Kanazawa in 2010. He had a career break in 2012 before fully retiring end of 2015 season.
After1998 World Cup, in October 1998, Kubo was selectedJapan national team by new managerPhilippe Troussier. On October 28, he debuted for Japan againstEgypt. Although he played at2000 Asian Cup and2001 Confederations Cup, his opportunity to play in the matches was few and he was not selected Japan for2002 World Cup. After 2002 World Cup, in December 2003, he was selected Japan for2003 East Asian Football Championship and he scored 2 goals againstChina. This goals were his first goal for Japan. In the first half of 2004, he played as striker and scored 6 goals in 9 games. However, he did not play for low back pain from late 2004. From February 2006, he came back to Japan and he scored 3 goals in 6 matches, however he was not selected Japan for2006 World Cup. He played 32 games and scored 11 goals for Japan until 2006.[1]
