Originally Posted by
justforfun
It sounds like you had an awful flight. I would definitely send a letter to JL.
For what it's worth, I've flown JL F a fair number of times over the past few years, and I've had nothing but perfect service. At times, I've felt the Japanese FAs actually went out of their way to make me, often the only caucasian, welcome.
Also, JL does not do a pre-departure drink while on the ground, even in F. That is standard, so don't let that part of the experience upset you.
Caucasians -- more so European-Caucasian males -- on some Asian airlines are known for getting better service from flight crew than non-Asian and non-European Caucasian customers on those flights. Being a female and a non-Euro-Caucasian and/or non-Asian has often been an invitation to lesser service. Being non-Japanese has been an invitation to lesser service from Japanese airlines in some cases. Racism and sexism are rampant on some airlines still but there are also times when it's lack of confidence in language ability that results in poor service. It takes a keen eye to tell the difference in circumstances.