On what date did Japan’s Nikkei 225 reach its pre-crash peak at the end of the 1980s bubble?

Japan’s Nikkei 225 reached its pre-crash peak on December 29, 1989.

The index closed at 38,915.87 on that date, marking the high point of Japan’s late-1980s asset-price bubble. Land and share prices had surged during a period of abundant credit, optimistic expectations, and rapid financial expansion.

After the peak, Japanese stocks began a prolonged decline. The Bank of Japan raised interest rates, and property and equity valuations reversed. The Nikkei fell below 20,000 during 1990 and eventually reached a much lower low in October 2008 during the global financial crisis.

The Japanese crash is often linked to the country’s “lost decades,” although that label covers broader economic and demographic developments as well as the market decline. The 1989 peak is not the same as the Nikkei’s later all-time high in 2024, when the index finally exceeded its 1989 closing record.