In 1990 Masahiro Sato in Fukuoka found the tooth of a theropod. The same year Yoshihiko Okazaki first reported on the find.[1] In 1992 Okazaki named the type species, Wakinosaurus satoi. The generic name refers to the Wakino Subgroup of the Kwanmon Group, of which the Sengoku Formation is a member. The specific name honours Sato.[2] Wakinosaurus was initially described as a megalosaurid but is today considered a nomen dubium and an indeterminate neotheropod.