According to my knowledge, there are three major kinds of noodles in Japan: ramen (らーめん), soba (蕎麦) and udon (うどん).
When we were in Kyoto (京都), we had lots of ramen. I blame the LP guide :P
Day One, we went and looked for a noodle joint near the train station. As we were staying at around 10 minutes walk from the station. It seemed like a good idea. When we got there, we found that there were two noodle places side-by-side and they were equally popular! We went to the one we intended to visit.
The menu was very basic and we decided to order the following food:
The soup appears to be soy-based. The noodles was slightly thicker than normal. It is quite heavy but it makes a good hearty meal.
Photo at the shop front
Next morning, we decided to have some food before we leave Kyoto. The other noodle shop sprung to mind.
It was rather early for lunch and there were only a few older people having food and chatting.
We ordered the following:
The soup was salt-based, I believe. It has very strong pork flavour and it was very tasty. The noodles were slightly chewier. 
I really enjoyed the food here. The gyoza was also good.
Photo at the shop front.
Something that we didn't get to try in Kyoto is their Tofu-based Ryori, such as yudofu (湯豆腐). The dishes are usually not very fancy, simply dressed with soy sauce and a couple of garnishes (e.g. chopped spring onions and grated ginger). This ensures that the tofu of excellent quality doesn't get 'spoiled' by strong flvaours.
Kyoto is famous for its tofu for a few reasons:
(1) Kyoto has a lot of underground springs and this soft water is particularly good for making tofu
(2) There are a lot of good quality soybeans grown across Kyoto. (Tofu is a soy-based product)
(3) There many great temples in Kyoto. Since the priests of the temples are generally vegeterian, they obtain their protein from tofu. As a result, they have mastered the making of tofu.
This sounds too good! I guess this gives me a reason to return to Japan for another trip! hahaha
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