In a nutshell:
- Extremely poor service, in fact - very rude
- Food was terrible (and I'm not the avoid-sashimi/sushi- type of foreigner)
- Room was dingy

I'm confused. I really don't understand why various other guests at Kokuya had such a different experience, while others had such poor ones (like mine). Perhaps in their off-peak season, Kokuya treats its guest well, but during the peak season when I visited it, it was a bad experience.

I stayed at another traditional onsen ryokan in my trip to Japan, and it was a very different experience. The service was impeccable, the food was astounding, the room was beautiful and tasteful. It also was not that much more expensive than Kokuya.

I believe Kokuya manages to reach out to many unsuspecting English-speaking and European foreigners because of Zeno's comprehensive website and the fact that he can correspond in English. But I should have done my homework here on tripadvisor and should have booked another hotel.

What left me most disgusted was the food - I love good food, Japanese especially. I have dined at some of the best restaurants in Tokyo and Asia, and I know what makes a good kaiseki meal. The dinner at Kokuya must be a joke.

Please avoid this 'ryokan' if you can! In fact, Yudanaka can be missed. Only the snow monkeys are worth it.

It seems that this location does not meet all expectations but was first class for us.
The facts are that it has endless amazing springs inside the hotel - ALL with the facilities that you would expect in a 5 star environment.
If you visit Japan all the time you may have different traditional expectations but as a natural spring enthusiast you could not do better - all within seconds from your room. I think about 9 springs in total. The town public baths were also available but we did not experience these.
The food was great - our kids 10, 12, 14 enjoyed the traditional food experience. We had a choice of traditional or western and by the second day all were eating traditional. I spoke with others who are Japanese food purists and they had a different opinion. I couldn't fault.
Zeno our guide was amazing. He was very attentive and provided us with a tour of the town, up to Monkey Park- which was incredible - take walking shoes as it is icy in winter, local temples, off the beaten track. Zeno even took my wife to a Pharmacy in his own time to get some medication for her eyes and provided translation services.
I think contributors to this forum have to understand that they are getting 5 star service from a family run business. That at times the family business may need to do two things at once, and that you go with the flow.
Rooms were pleasant but not opulent. Kids were disappointed that they really nothing to do in the evenings and the TV did not offer English cable. So we found other activities and by the time dinner and evening spa was over we didn't really have to full in the time. Only issue is no wireless and we had to use a house computer that we had to pay. Hopefully wireless has been improved.
A great experience with family sized accommodation - with a traditional twist.

unfortunately this place was a big disapointment. I write this several months after being there so have had time to reflect on our night at Kokuya. We chose the spot after considerable research and correspondence with Zeno. The place looked great from the website and we were greatly looking forward to a night of luxury having gone for budget options elsewhere. First of all the positives: service for the most part was pleasant, our private bath was lovely and our food was (on the whole) good. The negatives however outweight these: the place is desperately in need of a makeover - it looks very tired and very 70's. Everything is a little rough around the edges and sometimes verges on tacky. There is absolutely no chance this is worth the amount we paid for it. In addition, we were the only people staying there which gave the place a rather empty atmosphere. If i were to plan our trip again I would certainly give this place a miss and save my money for somewhere else. It pains me to say it but I would also consider giving the town itself a miss - aside from the hot baths the place really doesn't have much about it and in our opinion feels a little depressing rather than quaint.

My daughter and I chose Shibu Onsen to see the monkeys in the hot springs and serendipitously stayed at Kokuya. This ryokan hotel has large rooms with air conditioning. The food, served in a private dining room, was the best I have had in a ryokan, with an English menu provided, and they catered to my daughter's vegetarianism. It has six public hot baths (segregated by sex but switching at 9pm so you have access to all of them) and two private baths. In addition you get a key to the onsen in the town and can join all the other overnight guests walking in yukata and geta to visit the nine public hot baths (each purported to improve health in various ways). They have a shuttle from the train station to the hotel. They were exceedingly helpful in coordinating our trip to see the snow monkeys the next day and help us time it so that we could catch the train. I would plan another trip to include this ryokan.