Nomura was born in April 1927, a native of Hyōgo Prefecture, and completed a bachelor's degree and doctorate at the University of Tokyo.
Nomura began work in 1957 as a postdoctoral researcher in the United States, alongside Sol Spiegelman, James Watson, and Seymour Benzer.
[1][2] Nomura returned to Japan in 1960, to teach at the Osaka University Institute of Protein Research.
[3] Three years later, Nomura accepted a position at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
[3] He was named a full professor in 1966,[1][3] and remained on the faculty until 1984, when he moved to the University of California, Irvine as Grace Bell Professor of Biological Chemistry.