Kakunodate and Tsurunoyo in One Day?

Is it possible to take the train up from Tokyo to see the Samurai Village in the morning and then still have time to a bus ride around Lake Tazawako and enjoy the hot springs at Tsurunoyo?

We're planning to stay the night at Tsurunoyo and then maybe do a quick hike to check out the other springs (I've read the hike can be done in 2 hours), before heading back to Tokyo to catch the afternoon sumo matches.

Is this plan possible? If so, what time frame--and transportation--would you suggest for accomplishing it? We don't plan to drive, so if you could suggest trains that connect between Kakunodate and Tsurunoyo that would be helpful. Also is this order of the Samurai village then the hot springs best, or should we do the reverse?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Technically it can be done if you leave Tokyo on the first or second Shinkansen of the day and leave early enough next day, but I'd do it without visiting any of the other onsens aside from Tsurunoyu so you wouldn't have to rush around and enjoy plenty the stay at Tsurunoyu. As for Sumo, have in count that the best matches are the evening matches, the afternoon matches you can skip them.

Hyperdia will tell you the train times.

It's a long enough journey, and then you'll need the bus up to the onsen (and back).

Coordinating the connection times could add or take away significant time from your journey.

you don't really want to rush in and out of the onsen. I would skip Kakunodate, I think it's one of the less interesting "samurai villages" anyway (I prefer Chiran in Kagoshima for example)

It's definitely possible!!

I did a vlog of how to best spend your 24 hours!!- its crazy how much you can see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=326PIthEg_Y

But if I were you I would take a rain check on Kakunodate- its not that spectacular!

Hope this helps

Aw, Kakunodate is quite sweet, especially if you catch it in blossom season.

(But I do agree that I wouldn't make the trip from Tokyo especially to see it. We went there in the snow, in combination with a couple of days on the Oga Peninsula - New Year with the Namahage!!!!)

Oh sorry, I misunderstood the question, if you're spending the night in Tsurunoyu there's definitely time to go to Kakunodate as well.

Is it possible to take the train up from Tokyo to see the Samurai Village in the morning and then still have time to a bus ride around Lake Tazawako and enjoy the hot springs at Tsurunoyo?

From Tokyo it takes about 3 hours to get to Kakunodate.
Probably you'd spend 2 hours visiting the Samurai Village and walk back to the station.
Later it will take about 1 hour to catch the train to Tazawako, not counting if you are to wait for the train.
And about 1 hour bus to the Tsurunoyu Onsen, excluding the time you might have to spend waiting for the infrequent bus.
Looks like you have to monitor everything closely ; you do not want to arrive later than 16:00 at the Onsen , as you would not want to miss enjoying the surrounding and the rotenburo before dinner.
Do not miss the Kashikiri Rotenburo in the main building.

Thanks for all your responses. It seems that I should be able to see everything in one day…

I'm a little confused though: when I looked on Hyperdia, it seemed to say that it was only a 13-minute train ride from Kakunodate to Tazawako, so if I catch the 12:57pm from KaKunodate, I'll get there after 1pm, and have plenty of time for the bus 40-minute scenic bus ride around the lake. The bus station is just across the street from the train station…

Am I looking at the wrong train stop? Or the wrong bus?

Also, I'm not clear if the sight-seeing bus around the lake, which finishes at Nyuto Onsen if I'm correct, is the same bus that would let me off at the Arupa Komakusa stop to be picked up by the Tsurunoyu staff. Can anyone confirm this?

Finally, will they take me back to the stop at whatever time I wish the next day, or do they usually just take a a group of people at 10am, when they check out?

Later it will take about 1 hour to catch the train to Tazawako

Stand corrected : 13 minutes with SHINKANSEN KOMACHI from Kakunodate to Tazawako.

Finally, will they take me back to the stop at whatever time I wish the next day, or do they usually just take a a group of people at 10am, when they check out?

As far as I remember,the Onsen bus runs at a fixed timetable for both pick up as well as drop off; from and to the Arupa Komakusa stop .

Okay. Thanks. So I'll have to arrange with the onset the time of the pickup up and drop off.

Can anyone confirm that the bus that takes you around the lake is the same one that drops you off at the Arupa pickup stop?

Finally, will they take me back to the stop at whatever time I wish the next day, or do they usually just take a a group of people at 10am, when they check out?

Here is the OCT 2013 onsen bus timetable for the Arupa Komakusa stop :

07:25
08:30
09:30
11:10
12:20
13:20
14:20
15:20

Thank you very much for the list of drop-off times! That's extremely useful!