Nakashima  

It's crap.
Maybe you'll be lucky and get a good one, but I'd be really careful about buying a table from Nakashima. I mean, I don't know whether it was damaged in shipping or what, but the last one I saw had a huge crack right through the top. I'm not talking a little hairline fracture, either; this was a giant split all the way through the wood.
Also... I don't know how this slipped by their quality-control people, but the finish on the edge of that table was really rough, too; I've seen way smoother edges even on Ikea tabletops.
Plus, if you look underneath one of them, you'll see how cheaply they're made: The legs aren't even bolted to the top!

?
Are you talking new or old?

Fastfwd
must be in a good mood this morning; his satiric pen is razor sharp ! Innocent readers -- and even the well-seasoned -- will be easily taken in. . .
If the new poster will look through the archive, via the Search In Forum function, a previous thread on Nakashima will be found which provides lots of (largely reliable) information and opinion. . .

Ah..
I was about to suggest the same. I just searched and you will find many
opinions... : )

All I'm saying
is buyer beware. Here's a photo of that cracked tabletop. Look at the closeup of the repair -- they didn't even use the same kind of wood!
And also a picture of a coffee table with that rough edge I mentioned. You can see that they started to make it smooth and straight, but then it looks like they just gave up halfway through. Guess that's what happens when the quitting-time whistle blows at the Nakashima factory: Everyone just turns off his power tools and ships whatever he's got if it's "good enough".
Clearly, no one there has any sense of craftsmanship or pride in a job well done.
[edit: prevented images from breaking]

You forgot something

I'm
willing to bet that last piece shown by FFWD isn't Nakashima -- or is at best lesser work (?) from the shop. Note the muddy and truncated slab, and the graceless shape and angle of the supports.
That dining table is first-rate, though -- wish I could claim that as my work -- the hilarious comments aside !

Willing to bet $108K?
Someone was.
http://www.wright20.com/auctions/view_search/EBSC/F5XT/716/LA/nakashima/...

Thanks
FSTFWD. Well, I guess it's just not to my taste. GN certainly made good (?) use of wood that would have been rejected by almost any other fine woodworker. . .!
The list of "features" to the slab are all defects, technically. But he knew how to save such a piece of material and give it new (and potentially permanent) life.
There is an essay by Mr Nakashima in the Jan-Feb 1982 issue of Fine Woodworking magazine, in which the author explains his feelings on that subject. I will prepare a sample of the text.

Ecellent SDR
Ecellent SDR

Not my taste either, SDR.
Or maybe it was just a really bad photo. Regardless, I'm looking forward to reading whatever article excerpts you feel are appropriate to post.

thanks
I am talking about his old work that he actually manufactured.
I was wondering what people enjoyed more collecting : chairs, tables, lamps, etc.
I did review the old posts and i am not going to buy a piece by nakashima, i am just interested in finding out further information.
Thanks again by the way.

Ok, seriously.
Nakashima's slab tables -- with unfinished edges and (usually) butterfly joints across natural cracks in the slab -- are so intimately associated with him that no one else can build a similar table without being accused of copying him.
Some of his chairs are similarly unique, but they're not as widely recognizable, and even full sets of custom chairs are nowhere near as valuable as his tables. The pieces he designed for mass production by Knoll (recently reintroduced; see pictures below) are very nice, of course, but they're in yet another value category.
His work isn't MY style; I barely like wood at all, and certainly not RUSTIC wood... But I can appreciate the amazing craftsmanship, and his spiritual connection to the wood intrigues me, even though I find it pretty mysterious. The man clearly loved his work, and he was exceptionally good at it.
The Nakashima website is at nakashimawoodworker.com, and the page listing all 400+ Nakashima lots auctioned at Wright over the last decade is linked below. There's lots more info on the web, including a short but decent Wikipedia page.
[edit: fixed broken image links]
http://www.wright20.com/search/nakashima/0

.
To answer vlcane first, I think that the tables are the pieces that most collectors would associate first with the Nakashima name.
His most unusual chairs might also be the ones hardest for the uninitiated to warm to: those with sled bases (a bar resting on the floor, from which the rest of the chair is cantilevered upward). I believe the tables and chairs with this feature are called "Conoid" as a group. When the horizontal "stick" is combined with a vertical slab to make the base of the table, the name used is "Minguren." (One has to wonder what sort of joinery is used at the crucial intersection of stick and slab, in these pieces. . .)