Over the course of his playing career, his father managed him for five seasons with three different teams—two with the Swallows, two with the Hanshin Tigers and one with the Golden Eagles.

[4] Some have suggested that the only reason Katsunori Nomura was given the opportunity to play in NPB was because of his father's connections in the league.

The Japan Times columnist Marty Kuehnert believes that he "hitched a ride" on his father's name, but his "statistics don't add up to a good month, or even week, of [Katsuya Nomura's] production".

After a 2001 tax evasion scandal involving Katsunori's mother Sachiyo, Nomura was supportive during the months preceding her arrest.

Kenneth Engel and Don Nomura, Sachiyo's children from a previous marriage, publicly disowned her.