Kids friendly Ryokan with Onsen near Fuji

Hello,

we will travel next April to Japan.
We plan to spend some days near Mount Fuji and would like to experience a Ryokan with Onsen bath.
Our kids are 3 and almost 6 at time of travel and it seems, that a private bath would be the best option for us so that we can stay together.
Do you have any recommendation? Or know any Ryokan, which have mixed public baths.

If we book something with a meal plan, do the kids receive different food than the parents. I believe, our kids would not like a Kaiseki Dinner..

Thanks for your help,
Andrea from Germany

Ryokans typically have a scale of prices and options.
Typically kids under 6 will be free if they use your futons and don't eat. Then the scale of charges goes up, according to whether they want their own futon, whether they want food, and if so, what kind of food.
Typically there will be a couple of types of child meals. The cheaper one, for younger kids, will typically involve simpler (often more yoshoku-type) food and be smaller quantities than the more expensive one which will be more like a halfway house between a kids meal and a kaiseki.
Some web booking forms make this clear. With others you need to call or email. Sometimes you can sort of guess it by looking at the price being charged for the kids.
Under 6 is a sweet spot for kids holidaying in Japan. It's the last time they get lots of stuff for free (transport, hotels, etc)

Thank you very much.
Do you have any recommendation for a Ryokan near Fuji?
Can 4 people sleep on a Tatami Matress made for two?
What is yoshoku?

I'm not sure whether Hakone is in the area you are wanting, but if it is I'd recommend the Japanese/western rooms at Lalaca at Gora. They easily sleep 4 and the ryokan has a private bath, and the food is brilliant.

Thank you.
I just found this Ryokan in other posts and will check availability.
Hakone is on our way, we want to rent a car.
By the way, in mid April, are there still snowy conditions in Hakone and Fuji Area?

Yoshoki = Japanese western style food. Google and you'll get the idea.
For a 6 and 3 yr old, I'd get them their own futons in a ryokan, but would check out the width of "semi-double" beds when you're booking regular hotels as you may we'll find that you can get away with fewer beds than people.
For two adults and one child, we've often booked a twin hotel room (twin often equals two "semi-double" beds) and us two adults have managed fine in one bed (we love each other), while our spoilt child has slept like a happy little starfish in the other bed.

"Yoshoku", not the misspelled word that my autocomplete made

I dont think that there is snow in Hakone in April, but I'm not sure about the Fuji area. There can be heavy snow around Karuizawa in April, which is pretty handy to Tokyo.

Sorry for my additional, maybe stupid question:
The kaiseki, is this raw food? When you check pictures as Ryokans, it all looks like raw meat and fish...
Or is this just before preparation?

Not at all. Kaiseke is essentially like a full course meal, and it usually has appetisers (usually cooked), a steamed dish, sashimi (always raw), tempura (fried), some kind of stewed dish (like a little hot pot), something grilled, then rice, pickles and miso, then a dessert.

Some are more elaborate than others, and there might be a fish course if you stay one night, then a pork one on the second, and a beef one on the third, or you might pay extra to get a beef course. But generally speaking, only the sashimi course and a couple of the appetisers might be raw.

It is a spectacular way to eat, but I find after the second night it is just way too much food. We usually let them know not to bring out the tempura course which fills us up too much. If you couldnt eat sashimi, you can tell them when you book you dont want it. But sashimi is pretty awesome.