mrwunrfl, I plan to write as soon as I can at the end of the month. This will be our one “nicer” ryokan so I don’t mind spending what, for us, is a a lot of money, though I do appreciate that it also includes a lovely traditional dinner.

I’m inclined toward Yarimikan but I also found another ryokan that gets good reviews: Yumota Chohza (Yumoto Chohza - English Page), which is a little bit pricier. Personally, I like the look of Yarimikan more but both look nice. The locations seem very different, and I don’t know which would be better. Yarimikan is near the ropeway, which I would think is an advantage.

Yumoto Chohza looks nice. You can see in the fotos how it fits the traditional ryokan style, with the hiroen, the tokonoma on the right, the traditional TV, and no beds. It is a relocated house.

It has an irori like in the farmhouses in S-go where guests would have dinner in that main room. I could swear I saw a photo where YC had a room with multiple place settings. The guest rooms are set up to have dinner on the zataku table. Maybe you have a choice to have dinner in your room or in the irori/dining room.

They don't have non-smoking rooms. I see under "Can I smoke?" it has this:
"Yes, You can in your room. lobby and smoking area. But not arrow to smoke in dining room."
Where "allow" is spelled the way a Japanese would pronounce it, as in "Smoking is not arrowed in the dining room."

get off the bus at"Fukuji-onsen-yurimisaka(HO41) "or Fukuji-onsen-kuchi(HO45)" ...

i think it is saying that if you get off at HO45 then you should call for pickup. maybe HO41 is close

Nearer the ropeway means farther from Hirayu bus terminal. If you can walk to the ropeway from one of those two places then I guess that would be an advantage. If you have to ride a bus to the ropeway then it doesn't matter. Ask the ryokan how to get to the ropeway. It may be close enough that they will drive guests to it.

In the photo for the Yarmikan J/W-style room you can see on the left the J-room where you could have dinner like in a traditional ryokan. There is proably some kind of hiroen setup that is out of view. On the right is the W-room with the beds and what looks to be a regular diniing room table with real chairs!
(I assume additional guests (the kids) could sleep in the J-room on futons)

Dinner is going to be in the room, isn't it? Below is a blurb from the More Details page. I am going to take it to mean that the okami-san will still bring your meals to your room, as they do. They aren't "staff", I think.

"At a typical Japanese inn, after dinner is served, a maid comes to the guest’s room and lays out the futon. However, at Yarimikan, for comfort, futons are laid out in guest rooms before the guest arrives, so that guests can rest immediately and spend their time in private. Therefore, the staff will not visit the guest room again after taking guests to their room at check-in time."

Thank you so much for that detailed description! I can’t book till the end of the month so I’ll have enough time to mull over these options. They both sound good (though I wonder about the lack of nonsmoking rooms in YC.

I would imagine it’ll be nice no matter which we choose.

Yes, they both look nice. The futon for two consecutive nights (would be five for you) would be an issue for me. Yarimikan is closer to the ropeway, 9 min by bus, so maybe half that or less if they drove you, or an uphill walk. I did not see their smoking policy. just assume it is an area out of the way, maybe a glass cage with an air cleaner.

Am very surprised that YC arrows smoking in lobby and rooms. Some people hate the smell of room.and would go nuts if they got a whiff of somebody in the room next door. It is an old wooden structure.

Thank you very much Progol, your itinerary was very helpful to me for planning a trip to Japan!