If, like me, you had not done your research properly and have no real clue what a 'shared bathroom' means in Japanese context, it might come as a slight culture shock to find out it means complete communal sharing of shower stalls with no privacy partitions. However all the other ryokans are the same even at much higher prices. Nozaru offers the same facilities and experience at a much more reasonable price and after I got over my inhibitions, taking a good hot soak in the onsen after a cold day out in the snow became a much looked forward to activity. You enter a changing room with baskets to put your stuff, strip down and enter the bathhouse, sit at a stall and shower before dipping yourself in the onsen. Take note of cleaning timings between 9am to 4.30pm when they close the bathhouse, that means the showers are closed as well. Great place located near the monkey park. (Take note the forest trail is closed during winter and you must take a bus to the other walking trail at Kanbayashi)