1. Look in /etc/profile and add a line like
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/java/jdk1.4/j2sdk1.4.0/bin
2. Don't use the symlink in the JAVA_PATH, reference it directly?
/usr/local/java/jdk1.4
IIRC, you shouldn't put the /bin folder in this path, but its parent.
HTH