There will always be unavoidable cross contamination between the real world and any fictional world, particularly when the fictional places are rooted in real cultures (as is the case in FFXIV). A fictional world without any influence from ours would be so alien we wouldn't know what to make of it. I wouldn't worry too much about the sauce or references to The Orient.

That said, do we know the location of The Garlean Empire exact enough to know if your theory could be true?