Japan's Nikkei 225 reached its all-time closing high on December 29, 1989, before the country's long market collapse.
The index closed at 38,915.87 on that date, marking the peak of Japan's late-1980s asset-price bubble. Share prices and land values had risen dramatically, supported by easy credit, optimistic expectations, and intense speculation. The Bank of Japan then tightened monetary policy, and the bubble began to deflate.
The Nikkei fell sharply in 1990 and remained far below its 1989 peak for decades. Japan's subsequent period of weak growth, banking stress, falling asset prices, and corporate deleveraging became known as the Lost Decade, although economic and financial difficulties extended beyond the 1990s.
The date is sometimes confused with the market's later intraday record or with the first trading day of 1990. The key fact is the closing record: 38,915.87 on December 29, 1989. The Nikkei eventually surpassed that closing level in 2024.