I went through the PARC/NCA interview last week. Sorry this took so long to post - back at work in Europe/ME with serious Internet challenges.
They indicated that:
Training will be at NCA training facility in Narita, accomodations at the Excel hotel. Training ws originally projected to be up to 6 months (total elapsed time, including return home after SIM and about a month of IOE). Planning on classes of 8 candidates each, every other month beginning in April, for a total cadre of 32 pilots, who are to replace junior JAL pilots that NCA had employed while on furlough and are being recalled.
Next screening (after the one this week) will be in December. PARC and HAAC are still accepting resumes.
PARC will reimburse the cost of the airfare to/from, and trains etc when there. Hotel is paid dirctly by NCA. Stay at the Excel Hotel in Narita (adjacent to the north end of the airfield). There is a crew-only cafeteria in the basement, which is a great place to meet and mingle.
Day one of the screening consists of a sim evaluation followed by panelinterview, both conducted at NCA's new training facility adjecent to the airport. PARC/HAAC rep will escort you and three other candidates to and from the training center. Each sim and interview is individual...everyone else waits in a conference room while the otheras are screened. Morning or afternoon sessions, but either lasts about 5 hours, with a lunch break.
You will revieve a one-page sim profile and the NRT ILS Rwy 16R approach plate, which you will review with a NCA Captain and the Chief Pilot. Very relaxed - they let you know what they would like to see. The Captain in the left seat runs all your checklists. In the sim: engines running, holding short of the runway, depart NRT 16R, engine flame out at V1. @500', LT to 010*, flaps 5* and 1,000' accellerate to 200kts, climb to 3,000, then Autopilot on. You're on a modified downwind for the approach. 3-engine ILS to a full stop, Autopilot off once established. Clear the runway at the highspeed ad stop. Done. In and out in ~20 minutes! They just want to see you fly and that you're trainable!
Panel interview included one PARC rep, who guided the questions, the chief pilot, and a NCA representitive. Standard interview questions (why NCA, you ok with Japanese culture, what would you do if a captain did this..., and a very few general aviation questions. Seems like basically a "Normal" test, verify that you are who you say you are.
After screening, return to hotel and await phone call to let you know that you "passed" the initial screening and will continue to the medical screening the following day. There were more applicants than medical creening slots available, so guys that are based or live in the area were asked to return at a later date for screening. Screening is in a large diagnostic clinic in downtown Tokyo. Train runs from the airport to the city, easy, with no transfers. Screening took 5 hours - extensive vision test (with dilation - bring sunglasses!!), hearing, balance, psych screening, EKG, EKG on treadmill, EEG (brainwave exam), chest exray, barium swallow digestive tract radiogram, E,N,&T exam, blood and urine sample. Return to hotel after about 1pm, and done. Medical tests take about a week to get back to NCA, then about a week for the house doctor to review them, and passs the results to the hiring board. Unclear when we might be notified of intent to offer a contract.