I tend to avoid ryokans in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hakone. I favor more secluded onsens and also think the ones in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hakone offer poor value for the price. Many famous luxury ryokans also seem to take themselves a little too seriously and rely on reputation. I have advised friends who haven't visited an onsen town to hit up Hakone in a smaller hotel, not a cement jungle, to experience an onsen town between Tokyo and Kyoto. Give the options, I'd probably go with Miyajima near Hiroshima if you like slow paced quiet nightlife.

As an aside, how rural was the one in Tohoku? There's a historical one with white colored water which gets a lot of international and domestic exposure. I couldn't take a picture of the bath but did take a picture of the parking lot... Three huge tour buses. The changing rooms were small and crowded. The baths were packed. It did have docomo/softbank cell coverage. It probably didn't have a lot of insulation or noise blockers. That's definitely a ryokan I was happy to have passed over for an overnight stay in favor of one 20 min drive away in more modern facilities with a reservable private onsen. Now that I think of it, neighborhood ofuro were probably crowded like this when homes didn't have their own baths. Authentic, yes, but not my kind of ryokan.