At least from what I recall, the stereotype terms WRPGs and JRPGs started gaining popularity during the sixth generation, when more PC RPG developers started to enter the console market (and thus competing head-to-head with Japanese RPGs which were already on consoles), some notable examples include Bethesda (Morrowind) and Bioware (Knights of the Old Republic). Prior to that, people used to refer to games like Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Fallout, and so on, as Computer RPGs (CRPG), which was a term to distinguish them from pen-and-paper or tabletop RPGs.
Like I mentioned earlier, the terms WRPG and JRPG are more stereotypes than they are actual genres, because unlike terms like tactical, strategy, or action, there is too much subjectivity behind what defines a WRPG or JRPG (and thus we have disputes like this, where people disagree on what one game is or isn't), not to mention that there are so many exceptions that they really make no sense. In contrast, most people understand and agree on what makes a turn-based RPG, which is why it's one of the better genre descriptions.
For the purposes of the original OP, using the term JRPG simply to distinguish RPGs made in Japan is a simple and objective criteria, instead of overly complicating it by wondering which games fit along that the stereotype meaning of JRPG.
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