Can I apply for a Japanese tourist/ordinary visa 7 months before my travels?

I am a Colombian citizen. I'm planning a trip to Japan on my vacation from work, around October 9-27, 2018. I asked my travel agency about applying for the visa. I was told that Embassy would not let me apply so far in advance, to apply a minimum 2 months before my trip.

I've been reading the Japanese Embassy web site and I don't see anything related to that. Do they mean that it may be harder to get the visa if I apply so long in advance? Does it work like that?

My idea is to apply for it this month, February, or March.

I want to start planning the trip and buy the tickets. If I apply for the visa 2 months before, and they deny me the visa, I will lose the money and the time that went into planning the trip. I also want to apply for the visa now because the tickets will be cheaper than 1-2 months before the trip.

Edit: I have been told that I can't do that because I can't specify the date I want to get the visa. For example, if I apply for it now I will get a visa available for the next 3 months.