The Tokyo Midtown project in neighbouring Akasaka, which was completed in 2006, and includes the first Tokyo Ritz-Carlton Hotel, continued this trend.

These projects brought high-end office and condominium space to Roppongi for the first time. The Roppongi area received a major economic boost in 2002–2003 when the Izumi Garden Tower and the Roppongi Hills high-rise complexes were completed. However, many dance clubs shut down in the recession following the market crash of 1989. Contributing to the international scene was the location of several foreign embassies and foreign corporate offices in the Roppongi area. Starting in the late 1960s, Roppongi became popular among Japanese people and foreigners alike for its disco scene, which attracted many of Tokyo's entertainment elites. Surrounding the military installations were many Japanese-owned restaurants, pool halls, bars, and brothels which catered to US military personnel but were also often frequented by Japanese customers. Several large US military installations were located in the nearby area, with Hardy Barracks probably the most significant (the US Embassy Housing Compound and Akasaka Press Center including Hardy Barracks Recreational Lodging, Stars and Stripes office and heliport are still there). US Embassy Housing Compound in Roppongi-NichōmeĪfter World War II, during which the area was again destroyed, this time by aerial bombing raids, the United States Army and Allied government officials occupied several facilities in the area, beginning Roppongi's reputation as a neighborhood with large numbers of non-Japanese.

Roppongi was administratively part of Azabu Ward from 1878 to 1947. The influx of soldiers led to the area's rise as a nightlife district, briefly interrupted by the Great Kanto earthquake which flattened the area in 1923. In 1890, the Third Imperial Guard of the Imperial Japanese Army was moved to a site near Roppongi (now home to the Pacific bureau of Stars and Stripes). Roppongi was not extensively populated until after the Meiji Restoration, although the area was trafficked for centuries and served as the site of the cremation of Shōgun Tokugawa Hidetada's wife in 1626. Another legend has it that the name comes from the fact that six daimyōs lived nearby during the Edo period, each with the kanji character for 'tree' or a kind of tree in their names. Six very old and large zelkova trees used to mark the area the first three were cleared, and the last were destroyed during World War II. The name Roppongi, which appears to have been coined around 1660, literally means 'six trees'.

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