Ramen in Japan I don't know when Japanese started to call the noodle ramen. Historically we have Japanese noodle from the old time. They are called Udon and Soba. Probably ramen is transformed from Chinese noodle. Now they are totally became Japanese dish that many tourists from abroad want to eat. I think the popularity of ramen has started since the first instant noddle was invented by Nisshin. Honestly, when I was a child, I thought that Cup Noddle came from USA becuse it was English. We call instant noodle "instant ramen" except for "Cup Noodle". Let's go back to the story of normal ramen. There are various tastes of ramen, like shoyu, miso, tonkotsu, shio and so on. If you want to know what they are like, please click the link the below. There are many ramen shops in big cities. They have their own taste, they all different. And you can enjoy gyoza, which is kind of Chinese dumplings but it became Japanese dish, too. Oh, don't forget try Yakimeshi, which is called charhan that are fried rice. Probably you can eat a combo of ramen and gyoza or yakimeshi for ￥800-￥1000. It's inexpensive and good for tourists. The picture from this site, https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2042.html