There is a "Geiko" in Kugane

[Raven2014]

Is this intentional? Maybe, but you aren't in the wrong for drawing the connection between Kugane and Kyoto.

The whole reason they hit the nuclear button on the entire voice cast in 3.0 and use an almost entire new cast was to give all of them "accent" similar to their real life counterpart based on the parallel geography. It's not maybe, it definitely is intentional.

[DoH]

The kanji for "Shirogane" (白金) literally mean "white gold," although this term actually refers to silver (or platinum if you pronounce it as "hakkin"; white gold is just "ホワイトゴールド"); there's actually a "Shirokane" in Tokyo. Kugane (黄金), on the other hand, is an older term that refers to gold (the kanji literally mean "yellow gold"). In terms of culture, I think that it is quite obvious for anyone who knows anything about Japan that Kugane is supposed to be FFXIV's take on Kyoto. The fact that there are people dressed in traditional Japanese garb should give it away, but that weren't enough, the quests there (e.g., the geiko stuff you mentioned) should be enough to solidify that conclusion. The really telling point is the whole "Sekiseigumi" thing - this is clearly a play on the "Shinsengumi" which famously patrolled the streets of Kyoto during the Bakumatsu era and, among other things, prevented the city from being set on fire in connection with the Ikedaya incident.

[juicybug]

The kanji for "Shirogane" (白金) literally mean "white gold," although this term actually refers to silver (or platinum if you pronounce it as "hakkin"; white gold is just "ホワイトゴールド"); there's actually a "Shirokane" in Tokyo. Kugane (黄金), on the other hand, is an older term that refers to gold (the kanji literally mean "yellow gold"). In terms of culture, I think that it is quite obvious for anyone who knows anything about Japan that Kugane is supposed to be FFXIV's take on Kyoto. The fact that there are people dressed in traditional Japanese garb should give it away, but that weren't enough, the quests there (e.g., the geiko stuff you mentioned) should be enough to solidify that conclusion. The really telling point is the whole "Sekiseigumi" thing - this is clearly a play on the "Shinsengumi" which famously patrolled the streets of Kyoto during the Bakumatsu era and, among other things, prevented the city from being set on fire in connection with the Ikedaya incident.

ok thank you for answering my question!

[Averax]

Hingashi is just not-Japan from the pre Matthew Perry era.

Back when the entire nation was entirely isolationist and had exactly one open port for trade.

[Packetdancer]

*stares at SaberMaxwell's signature*

It's always surreal to encounter a quote of your own almost two years after the fact and out of context, and have a second or two of "...when on earth did I say that?"

[Illmaeran]

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.

Kugane is very roughly based on a mix of Kyoto and Nagasaki near the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate into the early Meiji Restoration. The "Shinsengumi", Kabuki actors, and actual non-prostitute Geiko are all Kyoto. The isolation of the port and city itself is much the same as historical Nagasaki as that was the only port Europeans were allowed to have permanent residence in in large numbers and even then it was limited.