In May 1930, when Wakabayashi was a Tokyo Imperial University student, he was selected the Japan national team for Far Eastern Championship Games in Tokyo and Japan also won the championship. At this competition, on May 25, he debuted and scored 4 goals against Philippines. He was the first player in Japan national team to score a hat-trick in debut. The same feat would be achieved 80 years later by Sota Hirayama. On May 29, he also played against Republic of China. He played 2 games and scored 4 goals for Japan in 1930.