I absolutely love taking night shots in Tokyo and this time, I took photos in Roppongi.
“Roppongi” means “Six Trees” and is a district in Minato ward. Back in the 1600’s, there were six very old and very large zelkova trees, three were cleared and the last three were destroyed during World War II.
I tend to visit, primarily the Roppongi Hills area. The area is popular for its night club scene but it’s also looked at as a hub of where most of the foreigners all hang out.
There was actually a time where I would avoid Roppongi because of the reputation that the place is primarily all drunk foreigners but while you do see drunk foreigners at a few pub areas, it all depends where you go and for me, I love the Roppongi Hills area for its museums, shopping and restaurants.
But its night club scene was actually popular way back in the Meiji era, when the Third Imperial guard of the Imperial Japanese Army was moved to a site near the area and because of all the soldiers, the area became a nightlife district.
In the ’70s, the place was popular for its disco scene and the area would also bring in many foreigners as numerous foreign embassies and corporate offices would be established in Roppongi.
Back then, from 1878-1947, Roppongi was part of Azabu ward. But the area was destroyed during the firebombing of Tokyo in 1945 during World War II, the commercial areas was not revived after World War II. In 1947, Azabu Ward would be no more and merged with Minato ward.
