Nakajima was born in Yamagata, Japan. His first credited role in a motion picture was in the 1952 film Sword for Hire.
He began his career as a stunt actor in samurai films and he acted in a small role in the 1954 film Seven Samurai, portraying a bandit.

He was considered by many to be the best suit actor in the long history of the Godzilla franchise. At the time, Toho's visual effects director, Eiji Tsuburaya considered him completely invaluable, and he was employed to essay the roles of most of the kaiju (Japanese monsters) during his career as a suit actor. After 24 years, he retired from suit acting upon completion of Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), when the studio cycled him out of their contract actor system, after it split into several subsidiaries in 1970. He stayed employed by Toho for several years, and was reportedly transferred to a job at its bowling alley, located on the now defunct studio lot.

Beginning in the late 1990s, Nakajima made a series of personal appearances at various Japanese monster-themed conventions. He appeared at the Monsterpalooza convention in Burbank, California in April 2011. His Japanese-language autobiography, (Wikipedia) Edit Biography