His first accredited film, Pigeon (鳩, Hato), was released in 1952; his last, Kikenna Onna-tachi (危険な女たち), in 1985.

He entered Keio University to study art in 1936, graduated in 1941, and then joined the Shochiku studios as well.

His 1974 thriller Castle of Sand, for which he won a diploma at the 9th Moscow International Film Festival in 1975,[2] is considered by many critics as his best work.

Nomura retired from directing in 1985, after which he worked as a TV producer and as consultant to other Japanese directors.

In 2014, the National Science and Media Museum in the UK organised a programme of five Nomura films, all of which were adaptations of Seichō Matsumoto stories.