I was running around doing the (!) yellow quests in Kugane, and I noticed one of the NPC givers is a geiko (gay-ko) where she is searching for something.
The word geiko is Kyoto dialect for Geisha.
So is Kugane based off of Kyoto to some degree?
Also, the quest "A Geiko for All Seasons" A crafter quest, where you have to make a gift for a famous geiko is more of a nod to it a Kyoto influence.

The only things I can find is that Kugane is a defunct word for "Gold".

Any help would be appreciated.