The Beijing lounge is bad, but I don't think that's the airline's fault. Basically there is one giant lounge shared by a whole bunch of different airlines, so there is nothing particularly special or intimate about the lounge as there might be if you were in a lounge dedicated to JAL flights only. I think the Beijing airport probably forces airlines to share one lounge. Otherwise, I would think at least some airlines there would have their own lounges, which did not seem to be the case.

As for the Tokyo lounges, I personally like them. I think most of the people who complain about them are comparing them to Cathay Pacific and Singapore, who I guess have really great lounges. The JAL lounges in Tokyo are at least as good as any US airline lounge I've seen anywhere.