Certificate of Eligibility - Data of Entry

Hello!
I am going to Japan soon for a year, and I have already applied for the Certificate of Eligibility. The application form required me to specify a date of entry. There I put March 31st. I submitted the form beginning of November. Now I noticed that I have to enter Japan before that, on March 23rd latest. Can I still change the date of entry when I apply for the final Visa (with the Certificate of Eligibility) or is it possible without too much hassle to get a tourist Visa when I enter before that date? What would you do?
Thanks!

Let's get some things straight first.

You are German, right? You don't need a tourist visa. You get a tourist visa waiver (essentially, just come with a valid passport). Has someone told you differently? If you want to come as a tourist, go ahead. You could even theoretically come on a working holiday visa.

There I put March 31st. I submitted the form beginning of November. Now I noticed that I have to enter Japan before that, on March 23rd latest.

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Who said that? Did you actually receive the COE?

The COE is something you apply for after you are hired by a Japanese company, in order to get a work visa. Is this what you are doing?

After you get the COE (which is given to your employer first), you have a certain amount of time to come, I believe. You then take the COE to your local Japanese embassy/consulate and get the work visa stamped into your passport. Once you enter Japan, it is canceled, and you are given a different stamp called status of residence (which unfortunately and erroneously is still called a visa by many people).

Glenski said:

The COE is something you apply for after you are hired by a Japanese company, in order to get a work visa. Is this what you are doing?

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The COE is also needed for a student visa. I had to fill one out once I was accepted by my host university in Japan.

To be honest, I don't think it really matters if your date of entry is a week later than when you will actually arrive. I could be wrong, though.

Ok thanks. I should have given more details. I am going to Japan to study, thus my COE is for a student visa. I have to enter Japan March 23st latest because March 22-23rd are the only days I can move into the student accomodation (seriously).

Maybe the date on the COE is only a guideline for when my visa needs to be ready. Even if so, let's assume I don't get my visa before I enter Japan. Is it going to be a lot of or any trouble to get a tourist visa waiver with my passport first and then later get a proper resident status with my 1-year student visa?

I don't think there will be any problem coming as a tourist, and then switching over to student visa status. You'll get the COE from your school, undoubtedly, after immigration sends it to them. Then, you just waltz into immigration Mon-Fri with your passport and alien registration card (or receipt from the ward office).