ime on lax-nrt-mnl, jl DOES provide accomodation IF the 6p flight is full or you ask nicely. however, it's important to talk to the right people. when i'm in the US, i rely on my costa mesa travel agent to get stuff done. in asia, i've found the shanghai office to be great. once i called the hong kong office and didn't like what i heard.

as for the nrt stopover, there are scores of threads on the topic. unlike most people, i actually like stopping over there, even when i'm alone.