No they aren't. JRPG started off as a carbon copy of WRPG's, just took a left turn somewhere upstream. RPG's are games where you play the role of a character and grow with them, train them, make their decisions which affect the world around them. JRPG's are in the business of telling stories....not roleplaying.

I like all RPG's but my favorite is hands down these types:

Technically you're playing the role of the main character in JRPGs, so you are role playing, role playing doesn't mean you can always choose how the story goes or anything like that, you can role play as Jack Sparrow and therefore you must ACT like you ARE Jack Sparrow, OR you could role play as a mage and come up with your own bullshit magic and tell your own story that no one gives two shits about and usually call you a nerd, at least the Jack Sparrow role player can get laid :P

However, the problem with that logic is that all games would be RPGs, other than puzzle games anyway.

Well I was also leaving out the obvious parts like JRPGs have a leveling system so you grow them, you can search for legendary equipment that often have stories tied to them, etc.  Those points should be easy to understand and already know if you're a gamer lol.  The way STAGE described JRPGs they could basically be movies and you get the same effect lol. 

I was just pointing out the not so obvious point that you technically ARE playing a ROLE in the game :P

Although people actually quoted me, no one actually seems to have read my post.

How amusing.

No...you don't control a character, you control a team. You just walk around as the main character. You don't fight with him, but you issue out orders to yourself and your team to progress the story. Gaining exp is the only growth your character goes through, with weapons and powers. There is no actual growth, nor effect on the world. Role playing means, you become the role and make the decisions for a character that affect the world around him. Take this for instance...the definitive version of role-playing is living the life you're living right now. You and I both choose to debate about RPG. Role playing pits you into the first person, while JRPG's pit you into the third person perspective, where you are acknowledging the character existence and immediate effect on the world around him...you, yourself aren't influencing it.

Exactly my point. If we look at JRPG's as RPG's then most games could be considered RPG's.

JRPG's do not allow you to play a role. They focus on the story of the character themselves in an narritive fashion, rather than putting true control in your hands. This is what makes JRPG's not RPG's in a traditional sense. JRPG's allow you to experience the story, but not affect the outcome. RPG's do. Even though you walked around the city as a character in JRPG's, you never were the character. In JRPG's the main character serves as a beacon for the whole team.

As I said before...if your EXP and leveling theory about RPG's is true, then UFC: Undisputed is a fighting RPG.

2 words. Final fantasy.