A very tough choice. I can't choose between tempura, sushi, yakitori and onigiri, but in the end I chose onigiri. For sushi, it depends on what kind of toppings actually. As for nabe, I have been wanting to try it but haven't gotten a chance. Maybe one fine day.
Agree with some about bento too, but I guess generally in my head, bento means rice with any side dishes. XD And ohh, takoyaki should have been in the poll too. I would have definitely chose that for sure!

same here...

Isn't ramen no different from instant noodles (well at least they seem pretty similar to me, except for maybe the soup base flavour)? How did it make you sick? O_o

Though I suppose there's the hand-made, non-instant stuff, but you'd expect that to taste better. xD

Maybe she wasn't good at cooking..?

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Unagi, but not dried eel.

god, there is so much more great japanese food, but i don't even know the names of most of the stuff i've eaten during my stay in japan. i love soba though - not on the list. first thing i did when i got back from japan: find the nearest supermarket and buy the noodles. i was that addicted to them.
and to shiso. the best herb ever. cold soba in soup, with shiso. it's heaven. also, a nice addition in temaki sushi (sushi you make yourself, for example on a temaki sushi party with friends). shiso shiso shiso. i wish i had a garten where i could grow it. you can buy it where i live, but it's insanely expensive. they count the leaves, and it doesn't taste half as well as when found on the roadside in the mountains.

i vote okonomiyaki xD
btw...bento is not food...it just means packed lunch(or food) <.<

Even though adding bento to the poll is debatable, i still picked it. The variety in an ekiben for example is hard to beat. Kind of wish I had more when I was there. Curry, although not Japanese in origin should really be in it though. Special mention goes to gyoza<3

No oden, shabu-shabu or undon? Oh well. Guess I'll pick sushi then. Chirashi and inarizushi are my standby orders.

Seriously. I would think something like shabu shabu or sukiyaki would be more popular than dried eel or tofu-dango. I do love okonomiyaki though, but its rare for me to have it.

I might be mistaken, but I was under the impression that ramen was originally a chinese dish... that's like having a poll about your favorite american food and putting tacos in the list when it's really mexican. Udon would have been a better option in my opinion.

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Didn't vote Ramen since its not exactly something I eat in true Japanese style very often, I had to go with Okonomiyaki.... If there was "Other" that would go for yakinikudon or cutlet bread... one of those two

lol, your post made me read the ending of Yakitate!! Japan (dropped it, story went air gear, lost its focus). Well reading it, glad I dropped it...

I'd say more than 90% taking this vote haven't even eaten more than 2 of the dishes listed and only base their opinion on what they found awesome in japanese media.

see comments asking where takoyaki is...that's more like a snack and not a full dish/meal.
Then again, putting bento in the poll is kinda questionable too, since it's nothing defined, you can pack in there whatever you want.
The only thing of those that's commonly found over the world is sushi, for everything else you already need to go to specific restaurants.