best airlines?

the 2 times I flew to Japan, I used Delta. I am trying to go back but I've seen much better deals with American Airlines and Continental Airlines... When I looked up reviews on them, I found some horror stories... Which one is worth the money?
Please keep in mind that I will fly from Nashville or Atlanta to Tokyo

I purchased tickets for April, 2 for adults and 2 for kids. American airlines don't offer kids discount, but JAL and ANA do, and that made their price very competitive with other airlines for us. My husband wants to have SAKE with meal, and that made our final decision.

I've flown American three times from NYC and am going again in April. It's a long trip and maybe you'll luck out and have an empty seat next to you. Other than that I would go with the best price....American has the individual screens so at least you can watch different movies.....

well Delta has the individual videos and music on the back of the head-rest in front of you too. but is American Airlines comfortable for long international flights? and how is the food and service?

JAL is probably the best for an international if you want to fly in and out of different cities.You can fly to any of the cities on the four main islands at no extra charge if coming off an international. Likewise going out. This is an excellent tactic for maximising a rail pass and not back tracking. I have great pity on anybody flying economy, my internationals are always done in business and service there is at best pretty ordinary in the last few years. JAL have taken to employing from lower paid countries so don;t be surprised if your cabin crew is Philippino. That said it's still the best if you want those free connections.

Cabin crew-including the pilots?

Dont tell me next they're outsourcing their maintenance to similiar such places?

JAL has many Flight Deck Crew from English speaking countries(USA, Australia). A few years back JAL was having problems with Japanese pilots not able to speak English very well, or their accent was too strong when talking with air traffic controllers. Since then it seems JAL has one English speaking pilot on each international flight. Cabin Crew on JAL international flights seem to be a mix of Japanese and Thai females. JAL regular maintenance is still done in Japan. Not sure if any "Heavy-Checks" are done in other countries. Many airlines will send their aircraft to other countries for their "Heavy-Checks", even airlines from the USA. Hong Kong and Singapore seem to be very popular for Pacific Rim airlines.