My wife and I recently returned from Asia with JAL in F, from BKK-NRT and then NRT-JFK in F in September (2004) and I can make some comments which may be of help to someone out there! I'll try to make this to the point. The F lounge in BKK is a "shared" lounge and was disgusting. Flourescent lighting, old furniture, few magazines. Food was ok with cold sandwiches, fruit, full bar. Very depressing place!
Once onboard the 10:45 PM flight, things got better. No pre-departure drinks. Very friendly and doting FAs. Seats were 2 pairs across, 3 rows, old-style but not bad! Black fabric and fully reclining 180 degrees. Partitioned. Nice duvet and pillow. Large amenity kits with Shiseido products. Menu offered 5 types of canapes, 6 kinds of sushi, and a list of a la carte items (soups, noodles, curry). Again, FAs very doting and mindful of cabin. Excellent service on this segment. There were only 4 of us in F. Limited offerings on AVOD system, which came out of armrest with smallish screen. Full breakfast offered prior to landing - Japanese or Western. People in F escorted off first while others in C were held back (literally!).
Narita F lounge is an absolute disgrace and an embarassment to this airline! 2 ladies at desk barely spoke English and became upset with me when I attempted to find out about my gate and departure time! Lounge had very limited food, unless sushi is your thing at 8 AM. Lounge did not open until 7:30 - had to wait one hour after landing at 6:30 AM! No showers. Limited space. No quiet areas. Idea of a private room with bed is a cubicle partitioned off with a drape and right between two rooms with massage beds making lots of noise. No way can you rest there! Worst of all, a horrible smell of stale smoke permeated the entire lounge - must be next to a smoking room somewhere. This actually made me nauseated! We went to the gate to escape this stench. Say what you will about BA lounges, but they blew this place away!
On board, FAs initially were good, but not as friendly or doting as on previous flight. No pre-departure drinks again (must be a JAL thing?). The flight was 006 - new skysleeper solo seats - cabin looks really bizzarre but in a calming way (difficult to explain). Seats are large, spacious, seafoam green things with nice soft cream leather and little storage areas including a filing-cabinet like thing that stores magazines and the blanket. Bright orange small table on the side. The rest of the seat is silver in color and plastic-looking. This may all sound strange but it actually all went together well and had a calming effect. Cabin layout is nice with 11 seats. Seat in center (row 5) is odd. One negative comment - your feet get stuck into a smallish area cut out of the back of the seat in front, and if you are not careful your feet can get smashed if you go too far with the electronic controls! (I'm only 5'11, by the way). But seat lies flat and is comfortable. Cabin feels more spacious than any other F cabin I've been in (vs. BA, CX, Singapore, or China Airlines). Large Shiseido amenity bag given again (different from previous flight). Cheap slippers. No mention of any pajamas. No trace of them. I didn't bother to ask. Food from the Western menu was heavy but very good, starting with caviar and foie gras, then soup, salad, entree, cheeses, fruit, dessert, chocolates, tea. Service got sloppy toward the end. FAs appeared to be bothered with the fact that I wanted both cheese and fruit. I was told to "wait" for my fruit while she served it to the rest of the cabin! (First time ever this has happened on an Asian carrier in F - I was really surprised!) This was also the first time in F that I've had to use my call button, and I used it about 6 times (would never dream of this on Cathay!). No attempt by FAs to help with creating the "bed". My wife was also disappointed with the service on this flight. She ordered the Japanese meal, and said it was good, however the presentation was not as lovely as they show on their website! A la carte menu was available for snacks. Full breakfast Western or Japanese available. Coffee was out of this world (a rare brand, according to the website). Also had cappucino, espresso. Full bar with nice selection of wines, sake, etc...
The bathroom was not cleaned very often (vs. CX where they clean it after each use!). Window in bathroom was neat, and a button allowed you to create a "film" over it to blur the view! There was also a fold-down stand so you did not have to have your feet touch the "real" floor while changing your clothes. Bathroom bigger than most.
Bags off first in JFK. Flight would have been perfect if service was more friendly and consistent. Hope this gives some insight!