Veteran Japanese actor Ken Takakura has been named a visiting teacher at the Beijing Film Academy, alma mater to famed Chinese directors Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, the school and a local news report said Thursday.

A man who answered the phone at the Beijing Film Academy's Chinese Communist Party propaganda office confirmed the appointment and said the school Wednesday issued an employment letter to Takakura.

The man, who declined to give his name, said he didn't know the exact details of Takakura's teaching duties.