I would like to teach English in Japan, BUT...?

Question:

I am not a native speaker.
I moved to the United States when I was 12, and my English is better than any native speaker's. I have NO ACCENT, I received at least a B on all of my college essays. I have a Bachelor's degree.
Many Japanese school and recruiters indicate that they require native speakers, but I don't believe being born in the United States will necessarily make one more knowledgeable of English.
I see so many native Americans (heh) misspelling common words, it's ridiculous!

Anyway, how can I convince them to hire me? Is this not a big deal to most Japanese schools?
Thank you.

Answer:

"I moved to the United States when I was 12, and my English is better than any native speaker's."

Better than any native speaker's? Meaning no native English speaker has better English than you? Lolz. Either you're incredibly pretentious, or you made an English error. :P (Sorry about the correction, I see someone already addressed that but I wrote this earlier) But seriously, your English sounds almost native level, but from what I understand that is sometimes not enough for Japanese English schools. I would ask the school specifically and be sure to mention that you spent x amount of years in exclusively English schools including four (or however many) in an English university. Was your major by any chance English? That would help. Perhaps get one of the English teaching qualifications or certifications such as TESOL/TEFL. Their weak points with English are usually grammar and pronunciation, so not having a strong accent will definitely help you, but make sure your grammar is up to par. Also, the Japanese idea of an English speaking foreigner is a white person, so if you fit that physical description it helps a bit too.