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Reality
The sad reality is that most English teachers in Japan should not be teaching. Being a native speaker is not a qualification for teaching. Would you ask for medical training from someone just because they grew up near a hospital? Of course not.
Qualifications
Your first concern should be a teacher‚Äö qualifications. As a minimum you should expect a Bachelors Degree in Linguistics, Education or English Literature. Unfortunately even this is often not enough. There are many people with Bachelors Degrees who have very low reading and writing skills combined with a very poor vocabulary. So, if a prospective teacher has only a Bachelors degree, you should ask to see a transcript from his/her University. Much better, of course, is a Masters Degree, again in Linguistics, Education or Literature.
A good student still doesn't mean a good teacher, but at least your chances are higher.
Lesson Plan
Your teacher should have a real lesson plan. Sitting in a cafe and chatting is not a lesson. Perhaps for the first few weeks, as you get to know each other, this is important; but ultimately you need something more. Also, using a text book that your teacher brings from the school where he/she works is usually not a good sign. Please remember, most teachers give private lessons simply because they see it as easy money, requiring little or no effort.
Exceptions
These are just guidelines. It's quite possible to find an excellent English language teacher with only a Bachelors Degree in an entirely unrelated field. But the reality is that most English teachers in Japan have no special aptitude and being a native speaker is the only thing they can offer. If you're doing a language exchange, that's fine; but if you're paying, then demand something more.
Finally, if you never had private lessons before, try to have trial lessons with at least two or three teachers, even if the first one seems great. You really do need some point of comparison.
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