Izumo Province
Wakatsuki was born in Matsue, Izumo Province, (present day Shimane Prefecture). His father, a samurai who served the local Matsudaira "daimyō" had the family name of Okamura. Wakatsuki was adopted after marriage into the family of his wife, since that family had no male heir, and only assumed the Wakatsuki name at that time. He enrolled in the Tokyo Imperial University in 1892 and studied law.