Originally Posted by
JerryFF
Ramen is so much more popular in the US than udon or soba, but in Japan, it seems to be just the opposite. It never occurred to me before, but now I really wonder why. Any thoughts?
it's an assumption of innocent ignorance. by and large, the majority of the population couldn't tell you the difference between ramen, soba and udon - and, probably, collectively calls all asian noodles "ramen".
add to the fact that many of us in the states have grown up eating "Top Ramen" at some point or another and Ramen has kind of become an accepted term for asian style noodles.
even so, without digressing too much, i would probably disagree with your assumption that udon and soba are more popular in Japan. IMO, Ramen is pretty popular and generally more available than soba or udon. Haven't seen too many places that just serve soba or just udon, but many places just serve Ramen. Check out these blogs:
http://www.bento.com/rev/tokyoramen.html
http://www.ramenadventures.com/