[5] In 1985, he made his debut in the Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTC) at the third round of the season, driving an E-AT Honda Civic Si in the sub-1,600 cc class for the Mugen team alongside Satoru Nakajima.

[6] In the following race at Suzuka, they took the overall pole position, and converted it into an overall victory after beating cars from higher classes, taking Honda's first JTC win.

[10] Honda introduced the new EF3 Civic SiR for 1988,[11] and during the season the pair won twice and finished second three times to win the championship for the second consecutive year.

In 1997, Nakako had won four times, twice finished second and placed in the top-five on three further occasions, meaning he went into the final race of the season leading the championship.

[18] Honda left the JTCC after the 1997 season and shifted their focus to the All-Japan GT Championship (JGTC), where they campaigned the NSX in the GT500 class.

In 1998, Nakako and Michigami won two of the last three races of the season, contributing to Honda's record-setting winning streak,[19] and finished fourth in the drivers' standings.