You can also do returns in Y with other one world carriers, funnily enough I was just looking at options for that for my wife who's travelling for work. CX is available for example for around £900. We also had a look at PE and options in between (PE to SIN and then Y to Brisbane), but eventually settled back for Y as she can fly from Gatwick which is closeby and will get some status recognition on CX.
You can do a hell of a lot on arrival with twice the difference in fares, including a luxury recovery spa weekend, and it's not a massive endurance test to be perfectly honest. Most people doing the trip will be in Y and they'll end up tired but alive. So personally in the absence of a really good J fare I'd be happy enough to go Y and use direct routings. As is often said on this sort of thread, flying is largely a matter of attitude. If you go in positive and looking forward to the other end rather than worrying about the flight you'll usually be fine.