Slappy1,

It looks like Continental flies the 777 to NRT. Those planes have 50 seats in BusinessFirst (www.seatexpert.com) so if there are over 30 empty seats then you might be in luck. Just make sure you have backup routing in place. Also, check and see what kinds of companion privileges you might get on other SkyTeam partners. For example, my companion can get nonrev tickets on JAL and Cathay Pacific since those are OneWorld airlines.

BTW, Continental does not have an international first class product, just business class. Same goes for other SkyTeam members Delta and Northwest. So you'll either get business or economy.

Good luck!

Matt