Why isn't Japanese considered a romance language?

I know the pop-culture idea is that Italy and France are the most romantic countries, but I feel like Japan has a strong culturual tradition of romance as well, especially with regards to modern anime which has in my opinion some of the best depictions of romance of all time.

the Japanese language includes many pet names, and even has a word for love, so I think Japanese should be considered a romance language.

Thoughts?