Born in Kobe 1898. After graduating from Kobe Trade College in 1919, he moved to Tokyo Trade College for study and then attended Kawabata Art School. There he studied with Fujishima Takeji. He was first accepted into the Teiten exhibition in 1921. In 1924, he moved to Paris and studied at Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and copied works at the Louvre. His work was accepted for display at the Salon Dordogne. In 1925 he went to Italy to study fresco painting. In 1927, he returned to Japan and his work was accepted into the 8th Teiten exhibition. Through 1931, his work was accepted into the Teiten exhibitions. In 1932, he returned to Kobe where for several years he worked on fresco projects, especially at the Kobe Trade College (now Kobe University). As he worked on frescos, he also created color etchings. He was a pioneer in Japan in the color etching field. Much of the fresco work was destroyed during American firebombing of 1945. In 1946, he became an art advisor and teacher at General Headquarters in Tokyo for the American occupation. In the same year, he was commissioned to paint portraits of 12 American generals. From 1954 forward, Nakayama did a series of frescoes for Catholic churches and institutions. From 1957 forward he began exhibiting etchings, first on Catholic themes, at Kabiya Gallery in Ginza and at Takashimaya, Nihonbashi. In 1960 he became a member of the Japan Print Association and also exhibited at the Tokyo International Print Biennale. In 1961, he was selected by the New York International Print Association and produced a series of 100 copperplate etchings in the "Flying to Infinity" series, followed by an exhibition at Umeda Gallery, Osaka. In 1962, he again was selected for the Tokyo International Print Bienniale and by the New York International Print Association, this time producing 200 copper-plate etchings in a series entitled, "Space Garden". From 1962 forward, he work was being purchased by museums abroad. For the following two and a half years, he administered the office for the Japan Print Association and was an advisory committee member for the International Print Biennale in Tokyo. For the rest of his life, he exhibited and had works purchased in Europe and America as well as Japan, participating in a number of Christian Art associations.