After his father died and he succeeded his father's title, he started producing tea utensils as "Sotetsu NAKAMURA" but later he retired from business (it is believed that he quit his business because he didn't like the family business or was not confident in maintaining his family business because of his poor health).
父の死後に家督相続、「中村宗哲」として茶道具製作を行うが、その後廃業（廃業は家業を厭っていたからとも、病弱で家業の維持に自信がもてなかったためとも言われる）。