It's all JL but I was told this morning by a JL CS agent that because of the visa free exemption being suspended and JL do not issue confirmed tickets for the connecting flight, most likely we'll not be allowed to board even from here in the US even if the connecting flight is wide open. I guess this is the scenario for non-revs who are planning to connect in Japan or HongKong as both countries have almost the same transiting rules. It worked for you because your tickets are a combo of award and non-rev.