Takayama to Hirayu

I am planning to go to Hirayu Onsen from Kyoto on 15 November and leave on 17 November. I was hoping to take the train from Kyoto to Takayama (via Nagoya) and then a bus from Takayma to Hirayu Onsen. Are there still buses from Takayama to Hirayu during that time? If there aren't any buses what are other ways to get from Kyoto to Hirayu? Are there faster ways to get from Kyoto to Hirayu?

Yes, buses should be running, and no, other than hiring a car and driving yourself, there really isn't any other way to get from Kyoto to Hirayu.

Thanks - I have been looking at timetables for the trains from Nagoya to Takayama and the bus timetables from Takayama to Hirayu Onsen and realise that missing one connection could mean quite a long wait.

I am now leaning towards hiring a car in Nagoya to drive to Takayama and then to Hirayu Onsen. We will also be going back to Takayama and then onto Shirakawa-go.

We live in Australia and so driving on the left is not a problem.

How hard is it to hire a car in Japan? Is Nagoya hard to navigate around (eg to get onto tollways)? Are GPSs hard to operate given that most of them are in Japanese?

Thanks!

How hard is it to hire a car in Japan?

Many users without Japanese language skills have reported it to be easy, especially when using the following service, which not only has an English reservation interface, but also the cheapest rates that I am aware of:
http://www.japan-guide.com//ad/coocom2.html

Is Nagoya hard to navigate around (eg to get onto tollways)?

I don't think it would be too hard. If you are worried, you could consider taking trains to Takayama and picking up the car there.

Are GPSs hard to operate given that most of them are in Japanese?

GPSs vary between car rental companies. Unfortunately, the cheaper ones, like Mazda, sometimes come with very old GPS systems that are difficult to use even if you have Japanese language skills. Other rental cars come with more modern systems, which are easy to use. Basic features require little language skills. You might want to ask the outlet staff for a short introduction.

Uji-san, did you mean www.tocoo.com?
I used them a while ago and it worked out fine. We got a GPS - all in Japanese - never figured out how to program a destination but the maps were very clear and detailed and easy to figure out.
I don't know about the actual leaving nagoya part (getting on the highway) but the drive between Nagoya/Takayama/Shirakawago is pretty straightforward.