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HI Air,

There is also one thing to keep in mind when it comes to the tourist visa.

Firstly you'll get 90 days at the airport as you are American, that can then be extended for an additional 90 days giving you 6 months in Japan before you have to leave (tourist visa's can not be extended more than once). From what I understand the extension of the visa is a fairly straight forward process (just a new stamp in the passport) and reasonably easy to get comparatively speaking. You can use that time to either look for a job that will sponsor your working visa (you do not need a working visa to start looking for jobs) or even get married in that time and transfer it to a spousal visa.

If you are going to Japan to study I see no reason why you would not be eligible for a student visa and since your Veterans payment will be paying for it there appears to be no reason why it would be refused. Although from what I have heard those holding a student visa are not legally allowed to work but there is always the chance of gaining some cash in hand work that does not get taxed and therefor does not need to be declared to immigration.

But all the above is just what I have heard. The best thing for you to do at this point is to go the Japanese consulate or have your fiance contact an immigration lawyer in Japan and get their advice. The other benefit to going through an immigration lawyer (as long as you don't mind the cost) is that they can take care of all the paperwork for you so that you don't have to worry about accidently not dotting an i or crossing a t and getting deported. They are the experts after all.