B747 FLT CREW IS CONFUSED WITH GND TAXI CLRNC AT NRT; XING RWY HOLD LINE WITH TFC ON FINAL.

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DURING TAXI OUT FROM GATE; WE WERE TOLD THAT THERE WOULD BE A RWY CHANGE. INSTEAD OF CHOSHI 1 RWY 16R; WE WERE GIVEN THE CHOSHI 1 RWY 34L. OUR TAXI RTE WAS HN GATEWAY H-D-A-RWY 34L. OUR PACE TO THE RWY WAS UNHURRIED. IN FACT; WE HELD FOR A COUPLE OF MINS JUST SHORT OF TXWY A BEFORE BEING CLRED ONWARD. DURING THIS TIME WE COMPLETED CHKLISTS AND ALL 3 OF US WERE MONITORING OUR PROGRESS TO RWY 34L. THERE IS AN ALT RESTR OF 7000 FT ON THE CHOSHI 1 RWY 34L. AS WE TAXIED; THE GND CTLR HAD US DELETE THAT RESTR. BOTH THE RELIEF PLT AND I HEARD THE CALL AND THE FO READ IT BACK WITH OUR CALL SIGN. AFTER WE TAXIED ONTO TXWY A; THE ATC AGAIN CALLED AND TOLD US TO LINE UP AND WAIT. AGAIN THE RELIEF PLT AND I HEAD THE CLRNC AND HAD THE FO READ BACK WITH CALL SIGN. FOR SOME REASON THE FO WAS HAVING TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING ATC. I CALLED FOR 'THE FINAL ITEMS' AND PROCEEDED TO TAXI FROM TXWY A TO RWY 34L VIA TXWY A11. BEING NEW TO THE ACFT; I TAXIED SLOWLY (5-6 KTS) IN THE TURN. I VISUALLY CLRED THE APCH CORRIDOR AND LOOKED DOWN THE RWY BEFORE TURNING ONTO IT. MEANWHILE THE FO WAS COMPLETING THE 'LIST.' BOTH THE RELIEF PLT AND I SAW LNDG LIGHTS ON SHORT FINAL FOR RWY 16R. I STOPPED IMMEDIATELY. OUR NOSE WAS ABOUT 8 FT INTO THE RWY. THE LNDG ACFT WAS OUR SISTER FLT. THE FO TOLD THE TWR WE WERE STILL 'HOLDING SHORT;' WHEREUPON THE GND SWITCHED US TO TWR. WE CHKED IN WITH TWR AND WERE TOLD TO HOLD SHORT. AS LNDG ACFT CLRED AT MID FIELD; WE WERE CLRED INTO POS. THE FO CALLED TO VERIFY OUR ALT CLRNC AND WE WERE GIVEN THE 7000 FT RESTR! WE COULD HAVE HAD A MAJOR RWY INCURSION AND AN ALT BUST WITHIN 10 MINS. UPON REFLECTION THERE WERE SEVERAL RED FLAGS. THE FACT THAT GND CLRED US INTO POS FOR TKOF. THE OTHER WAS THE FO'S DIFFICULTY WITH COM. ONE OTHER WAS ATC HAD THEIR HANDS FULL WITH THE RWY CHANGE. I CAN ONLY ATTRIBUTE JET LAG AS THE REASON FOR OUR LACK OF RESPONSE TO THESE CUES. WE MAY NOT HAVE BEEN SLEEPY BUT WE WEREN'T RESTED!