Although Nakashima is best remembered as a craftsman, he was trained as an architect—first at the University of Washington, and later at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

His professional career began with a position in the India office of American architect Antonin Raymond. In 1937, he transferred to the Tokyo office, where he first became acquainted with traditional Japanese carpentry techniques.

Nakashima returned to the United States in 1941, where he established a workshop in Seattle. At the outbreak of World War II, he was confined to an internment camp in Idaho. He passed the time in captivity by perfecting his carpentry techniques, studying with an elderly Japanese artisan. Eventually, after the intervention of Raymond, he was released, and he relocated to New Hope, Pennsylvania, where his workshop would remain for the rest of his life. It would serve as a showcase for his furniture—and, as the facility expanded over the years into a full-fledged compound—his architecture. Page 2>