His father, Keiji Sada, also a movie actor, died when Nakai was only two years old.

He won the Japan Academy Best Supporting Actor award in 1994 (for 47 Ronin) and Best Actor award in 2003 (for When the Last Sword Is Drawn).

[1] In 2003 he played a Japanese delegate to a Chinese emperor of the Tang dynasty in Warriors of Heaven and Earth.

His older sister, Kie Nakai, is also an actress.

This article about a Japanese screen actor is a stub.