Because the first one wasn't that popular in the West, because everyone wanted it be something else (a Shenmue/Streets of Rage hybrid) which led to the series name change and the use of voice actors like Mark Hamill in the west, and because of the Kiwami remake, I think it's become forgotten how much the original Yakuza was like a PS2 era JRPG.
It had fixed camera angles and loading everytime you entered an area,
it had equipable weapons,
it had healing items,
it had stats upgrades,
it had silent NPCs and a lot of text scrolling,
it had random battles with loot rewards,
it had sidequests.
BUT it was set in (then) modern day Japan and combat was real time with no real "party".
Sequels strayed further from the JRPG tenets as they became their own thing, until the Like a Dragon games, which employed a very enjoyable and dynamic turn-based combat with combos.
As such, while invariably silly, it also played high on nostalgia and tended to appeal to older gamers, which is why it was so successful initially back in Japan - of course not everybody likes adolescent dramas or cutiesy presentation. At a time when western games were starting to make inroads into Japan and the generation that grew up on Famicom was growing into their twenties, it was a breath of fresh air.
Shin Megami Tensei was for many years the flagbearer for mature JRPG, with dark, theological and philosophical themes in its games. Curiously, it was with its sideseries set in high school (Persona) that it really exploded in popularity in the West, arguably becoming the most popular current JRPG series. Not at first, but eventually, much like Final Fantasy before.
Now, would anyone care to argue that Demon's Souls is also a JRPG?
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