He initially aspired to be a professional mangaka and moved to Tokyo to pursue his dream. In 1971, he joined at Tatsunoko Pro as painter before becoming animator. After leaving the company he went freelance and participated in many works in different roles, ranging from key animator to episode director, before making his proper directorial debut with a short film titled Chicken Man & Red Head, which was a part of the [Robot Carnival](https://anilist.co/anime/2182/) anthology.

Nakamura revolutionized anime in the early '80s with his more realistic, extremely detailed and fluid style of animation. He is one of the few animators who has proven that he can successfully take on almost all of the creative burden on a project, proven in both his Robot Carnival short and episode 4 of [Hakkenden](https://anilist.co/anime/1822/). His 2001 film, [A Tree of Palme](https://anilist.co/anime/1141/), was an official selection of the Berlin Film Festival.