Minakata was born in Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. In 1883, he moved to Tokyo, where he entered the preparatory school Kyouritsu Gakkou. The headmaster of Kyouritsu, Korekyo Takahashi, encouraged Minakata in his botanical studies as well as got him interested in English. The following year, Minakata passed the entrance exam to Tokyo University Preparatory School (Tokyo Daigaku Yobimon), counting among his classmates the novelist Natsume Souseki. Minakata was a virgin till 41 years old.[citation needed]