We left Tobu World Square a little before 4 PM in order to make the 4:23 train to Tobu Nikko station. I booked the ryokan Kozuchi no Yado Tsurukame Daikichi (full name) through JTB (japanican.com) and I e-mailed JTB to arrange for the ryokan to pick us up from the station. It was 35,700 yen/night (11,900 yen/adult and children 50% of adult cost). This was for the most inexpensive option – regular room (no in-room onsen) and no upgrade on meals. If figuring out the children policy for hotels in Japan was confusing, figuring it out for ryokans was even more confusing! JTB has categories for Child A to D, but not many details about what ages qualified for which categories. I eventually figured that booking Child B rates for my kids would be pretty safe – this was bedding and children’s meals provided. From Tsurukame Daikichi’s website in Japanese only, it seems DD might be less than the 50% rate since she’s not school age yet, but I wasn’t sure and I figured she would probably feel left out if she didn’t get a kid’s meal like her brother. It was A LOT of food though! The adult meal was already a lot of food, and then we would eat some of what the kids’ didn’t eat. DH especially – he hates wasting food. Food coma every night! It was expensive, but given we got a kaiseki dinner (usually pretty expensive) and a very abundant breakfast, it seemed like a decent deal.
When we arrived at the station, the driver from the ryokan was already there. He spoke decent English and was very nice, pointing out some of the sights along the way. We sat in the lobby area during check-in and got some tea, little snack (something pickled), and a cool towel. Dinner time options were 6 or 7 and we picked 7 PM. Breakfast was 7:30, 8, or 8:30 and we picked 8:30 AM (we’re not early people!).
Someone then walked us to the room. He showed us the yukatas (casual Japanese robes) and the instruction sheet (the different colors corresponded to the different sizes by height). As he left, he put all our shoes in the shoe cabinet by the door and set out the slippers. The room was clean and comfortable. It had a very slight musty smell, but I think that’s common in the older buildings. We stayed in a ryokan in Hakone last time and it had that smell too. We slept on futons and found those comfortable enough. Our room was at the end of the hall and I would find out later (on a map of our floor) that our room was one of the bigger ones.
View out our window:
Bathroom and a little tea station:
The kids got this cute toiletry kit:
We settled in and got cleaned up. 15 minutes before 7 PM, we got a call saying our dinner was ready. Dinner wasn’t in our room like many ryokans, but on the first floor in a small private room (our room that night had a regular table and chairs). I liked not having to worry about DD getting the tatami dirty.
The food! All beautifully presented in gorgeous dinnerware.
The empty plate was for this grilled fish that was served later. Every meal had a grilled fish, even breakfast. When we walked in, they would show us the fish (still raw) and ask us to choose. I always just chose whatever looked smallest. Too much food! 
Here’s the kid’s meal. They got sashimi too, which DH and I ate. They liked everything else though
Travels with 2 Kids 