Hollywood star Sidney Poitier will become ambassador to Japan for the Bahamas on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said Tuesday.

The 70-year-old Oscar-winning actor, who holds dual U.S. and Bahamian nationality, will take up the post formally in a ceremony presided over by Japanese Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace.

Poitier will not live in Japan but will act as ambassador from abroad, a ministry official said. The Bahamas does not have an embassy in Japan.

Poitier's movies include "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" in 1968, one of the first Hollywood films to examine interracial marriage. He was the first black actor to win an Oscar, for the 1963 movie "Lilies of the Field."

He has visited Japan twice -- to see acclaimed film director Akira Kurosawa in 1967 and on vacation with his family.