Nakamura won several more tournaments after his first trip to the Olympics, most notably a gold medal at the 1997 World Judo Championships and three consecutive victories in the -73 kg division of the All-Japan Championships from 1998-2000. However, he failed to get past the third round at the 1999 World Judo Championships, and lost in the fourth round of the 2000 Summer Olympics and in the third round of the repechage. He won the Kodokan Cup in the -81 kg division the same year, but lost in the semi-finals and bronze medal match of the 2001 World Judo Championships to end up in 5th place. Nakamura retired in 2003 after winning the All-Japan Championships for the 5th time in 2002, and winning the Kano Jigoro Cup in 2003. He began working as an instructor for the Asahi Kasei judo team in 2004, and has served as a coach for the All-Japan junior and senior teams.