I want to teach in Japan
 

Hi!
I am only in grade 10, but I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do when I finish high school. I would like to teach English in Japan with Jet, but you need a college degree for that, right? I don't know what courses you would need to take to be able to teach in Japan. Incase teaching in Japan doesn't work out, I want to be a teacher here (in Canada). Is it possible to be over qualified for JET? The university I was looking at (university of Calgary) has an East Asian language studies thing. East Asian Language Studies (EALS) | Germanic Slavic East Asian Studies
would taking this hurt or increase my chance of being accepted? Increase I would think, yeah?
Anyway, long story short, I just want to know what I need to do in order to teach English in Japan. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

It seems that nobody really knows about the JET selection system at all. Some people claim that being able to speak Japanese or having teaching experience hurts your chances. Through all my reading I would personally say it has very little bearing on the decision, if not actually helping your chances. It seems the selectors place a lot of emphasis on how well your interview goes. Though by the time you do it, this may have changed and having that degree may be of great benefit - its impossible to say.

That said, your employer / colleagues in Japan will greatly appreciate someone with teaching experience and Japanese language ability. You yourself will also find the experience more enjoyable from the get go and will probably get a lot more out of it if you have those assets.

Short answer: No it should not hurt your chances.