Originally Posted by
virmaior
I'm sorry to hear of your difficulty.
Unfortunately, JAL is in the right here. I severely doubt Canadian airlines magically waive these sort of requirements for flyers from anywhere about transporting someone without a legitimate visa (as you appear to claim).
The 72-hour visa transit rule requires you to stay in the city you are transiting in (or a clearly delineated area). This is clearly stated. Otherwise, you need to acquire a visa.
Also I think the OP suggests that he should have been able to change the ticket to a few days later so he could obtain a Chinese visa. As far as I know, you may not get a Chinese visa in Japan unless you are a resident of Japan and even so, it will take quite a few days.
That said, although I favour Japan Airlines to all European/American competitors, customer service has a lot of aspects to improve in case of extraordinary situations (e.g. cancellations, delays).