I thought some might find this helpful, so sharing link to my post elsewhere for pretty fresh CoE submission.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japanresidents/comments/1frfp5e/my_coe_processing_time_sept_2024/
tldr; It took me only a bit over a month, although I was informed that it sholud take 3+ months.
Edit: Also a bit of context for those who just started to think about acquiring spouse visa; Immigration is super busy this year, so the timeline for the result is less expectable and it seems to have affected at least one pattern to gain spouse status of residence.
We were originally plannign for getting married in Japan while my then date is on travel to Japan, then proceed to use CSR (Change of Status of Residence) to switch her status right over Spouse of Japanese national so she doesn't have to fly back to her country and wait for visa to be issued. Well it didn't work out. (Details in the link.)
It's not insured on paper that such route is possible, because CSR is intended for non-visitors, however the general consensus seems to be it is indeed possibe, albeit as a special exceptional case. And that said, if one's still going for it, it seems like it's a nice idea to submit CoE first, judging from the fact that it was what I've been asked both by legal scrivener and immigration officers. But we didn't have it so she waited abroad for some times. Just my 2 cents.
Hope this helps someone out there!
by alexklaus80