Born in Vanvcouver, British Columbia, Nakamura studied with Charles Goldhamer, Peter Haworth and Doris McCarthy at the Central Technical School, Toronto (1948-1951). Working in oil, watercolour, ink and silkscreen, his work ranges from landscape and still life to Abstract Expressionism, using geometric shapes such as squares, cubes and ellipsoids to explore both the romantic and mathematical order of the universe. He was a member of Painters Eleven. Nakamura exhibited with the RCA in 1953, and 1964, the MMFA in 1961-1964, held a solo exhibition at the RMG in 1974, and has a sculpture at the Toronto International Airport. His work is in the collections of the AGO, CCAB, MAC, MOMA, NGC, NMAG, and WAG.