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

Japan’s Nikkei 225 reached its all-time high on December 29, 1989, before the early-1990s crash.

The index closed at 38,915.87 on that date, marking the peak of Japan’s late-1980s asset-price bubble. Extremely high property and share valuations had been supported by abundant credit and strong optimism about Japan’s economy. After the peak, Japanese equities began a prolonged decline, while land prices also fell sharply.

The Nikkei’s collapse is closely associated with Japan’s “Lost Decades,” a period of weak growth, banking problems, deflation, and repeated efforts to repair balance sheets. The index did not immediately recover its 1989 closing high. The 1989 peak is sometimes confused with the market’s later intraday records, but December 29 is the standard historical date cited for the Nikkei 225’s pre-crash closing peak.