Yamanoyado / Tsurunoyu, Nyuto Onsen

I got a room at Yamanoyado, so we'd need their shuttle service to Tsurunoyu Onsen. Is this bus also the same with the Yumeguri bus or different one? With Yumeguri, we'd need to book up to 1 hour in advance. If it's a different bus, how long in advance do we need to book the shuttle? I'd like to go to the Tsurunoyu onsen asap once we arrive

Could someone please clarify about Yamanoyado's outdoor bath during winter time?
http://www.tsurunoyu.com/FONDMENT/y-onsen.html
The Yamanoyado has 1 outdoor bath that could be made private. I wonder if we could book it in advance or it's just based on who visit it first? It's written on its website but a bit unclear with the Google Translate. From the website, it's said to lock it to make it private.

Does Tsurunoyu have the private outdoor bath as well as Yamanoyado above? How do we book them?
By private, does it mean couple could enter?
Which one of these baths in Tsurunoyu is/are the private one/s?
http://www.tsurunoyu.com/FONDMENT/t-onsen.html

In the first link you posted it says that there are 2 inside onsen and one rotenburo.
Regarding the hey it simply means, that if the door is open, you can go in and close the door behind you making it this a private onsen. You cannot reserve an hour. And if someone else is using it you can�ft get it.
As it is private yes, you can go in as couple or with your friends.

In the second link you posted I could not see any private onsen and from my memory there was none.

If you go to Hachimantai area and have a car (or a lot of time) i suggest you go to a mixed gender onsen on the mountains. Like one in the mountains behind Tamagawa onsen.

Enjoy the soak.

Hi LikeBike,
Thanks so much for the info. So for Yamanoyado, we don't need to make any reservation, just come and if no one using it, we could use it privately.

For Tsurunoyu, i also could not find any info about private bath on their website. It's just some reviewers using that "private" term. I guess they mean is the female or male only bath.

I wished we could drive in Japan but our International Driving Permit is not admitted there unfortunately. So i plan to visit Taenoyu with the Yumeguri bus for daytrip instead

At Tsurunoyu as far as I remember there are several gender separate ones and at l ast one mixed one which is also quite exposed. It has a secluded entry from the female section so you get a separate changing room.

Looking at your profile you seem to be from Australia. Are you sure you can�ft drive in Japan?

https://japan.embassy.gov.au/tkyo/driving.html

Even if you don�ft have an Australian driving license there might be other ways. Eg with a German driving license I cannot use international driving license in Japan either , but I get a translation from JAP and that serves the same purpose.

Hi LikeBike
yes, it'd be easy if we realize sooner that our driving license is expired already . We live in 2 continents but normally we use the Int'l Driving Permit of the Asian country with no hassle. Just realize about 1 month ago that only ones within the Geneva treaty is permitted to drive in Japan so there goes our driving plan. And I also did not realize it sooner that driving is beneficial for Hokkaido region since our previous visits to Western Japan were so convenient with public transports

also, did you happen to ever visit Taenoyu nearby? If you do, could you please describe how the mixed gender outdoor bath look like? I just find out that they have a rotenburo that could be rented privately for daytripper that have exclusive view of the waterfall. I saw picture somewhere before that there are 2 tiers of bath that overlook the waterfall. So I wonder if the bath on the 2nd tier is the mixed genders one and the 1st tier one is the private one. I could not find that picture again though. Apologize for posting on this thread but i thought since you've been in the area , it seems you might be able to assist.

No, sorry, i was not at that other onsen you mention. I have been to many onsen in Japan (also tonight) but there are still way more to which I have not been :-)

Hi LikeBike
yes, it'd be easy if we realize sooner that our driving license is expired already . We live in 2 continents but normally we use the Int'l Driving Permit of the Asian country with no hassle. Just realize about 1 month ago that only ones within the Geneva treaty is permitted to drive in Japan so there goes our driving plan. And I also did not realize it sooner that driving is beneficial for Hokkaido region since our previous visits to Western Japan were so convenient with public transports

also, did you happen to ever visit Taenoyu nearby? If you do, could you please describe how the mixed gender outdoor bath look like? I just find out that they have a rotenburo that could be rented privately for daytripper that have exclusive view of the waterfall. I saw picture somewhere before that there are 2 tiers of bath that overlook the waterfall. So I wonder if the bath on the 2nd tier is the mixed genders one and the 1st tier one is the private one. I could not find that picture again though. Apologize for posting on this thread but i thought since you've been in the area , it seems you might be able to assist.