On what date did Japan’s Nikkei 225 reach its all-time high before the 1990s market collapse?

Japan’s Nikkei 225 reached its pre-collapse all-time high on December 29, 1989.

The index closed at 38,915.87, marking the peak of Japan’s late-1980s asset-price bubble. Japanese share and land prices had risen dramatically amid easy credit, optimistic expectations, and intense investment. The boom became particularly famous for extraordinary property valuations in Tokyo and other major cities.

The Bank of Japan tightened monetary policy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. As borrowing conditions changed and confidence weakened, equity and real-estate prices fell. The Nikkei’s decline continued for years, contributing to Japan’s “Lost Decades” of sluggish growth, banking stress, and deflationary pressure.

The 1989 peak is sometimes confused with the formal start of a single-day stock-market crash. Japan’s collapse was instead a prolonged unwinding of a financial and property bubble. The Nikkei did not surpass its 1989 closing high until 2024.