In that case, Japanese roots is bullshit, since CV1-4 were all about western influences. they take inspiration from old western horror movies like Dracula, the Mummy, etc. Bloodlines even ties it to the (western) book that inspired everything. it didn't start getting very "Japanese" until SoTN, after which they started introducing more Japanese elements. (Japanese demons, Japanese religion even, in AoS) Not to mention Bishounen character design.