Is Dark Souls a JRPG?

[Sephiroth]

The J and W refer to the sub genre based on mechanics, not the country of origin or the visual design but rather where that design philosophy was popularized.

No, it is not. If it is not Japanese, it is not Japanese. Just like a cartoon not made in Japan is no anime, no matter how much it looks like an ordinary anime. Anime ist just the Japanese abbreviation of Animation. A Japanese cartoon. Does the Honey Bee Maya not look like an anime? No? Well, it is one. A game from Japan is a Japanese game. A Role-Playing Game from Japan is a Japanese Role-Playing Game. A Japanese Role-Playing game with Western influence is exactly that. Japanese Role-Playing games tend to reflect a certain mindset, just as Western RPGs do, but that is all. A Japanese Role-Playing Game that was made with the mindset of making it like a Western one will simply be a Japanese Role-Playing Game that looks Western-esque. It not being like this would mean a Japanese Role-Playing game could never evolve to the status of looking like what we know from old-school JRPGs as well as the modern ones that are more influenced by the West. They would always stagnate in their classification. Also, as said, they are Japanese.