That's strange, I spent a month in Japan this past winter and had the opposite experience. My diet in America consists mainly of lean meats and veggies. It's nearly impossible to find veggies in the amounts that I want to eat in Japanese restaurants. All meals come with a large portion of rice - in fact the primary source of calories seems to be rice, with small side dishes for flavor. To contrast, in NYC you can find tons of meals for under 15 dollars with a lot of veggies and good proteins.