My neighbor is in TYO for sim training w/JalWays and tells me that things have improved immensely from the early 90's when he started. He's a -400 Skipper in training. The foreign 747 classic flight engineers will be put out to pasture the end of May 2008 as I understand it. The pilot types will transition to the -400.
I agree though, the Astronaut physical was a bit much when I went through there in the late 80's.
I spent 18 years @Jal as a PFE before finally getting laid-off in 2006. Not a bad Gig, good money,vacation etc. JalWays is a subsidiary of JAL . Not mainline JAL.