The Nikkei 225 reached its pre-collapse peak on December 29, 1989.
The index closed at 38,915.87 on that date, after a spectacular rise in Japanese share and property prices during the 1980s. The peak became a landmark of Japan’s asset-price bubble, which had been supported by easy credit, rising land values, and strong investor confidence.
After the peak, Japanese shares entered a prolonged decline. The Nikkei fell sharply during the early 1990s, while the bursting of the property bubble damaged banks, companies, and household balance sheets. Japan’s subsequent period of weak growth is often called the Lost Decade, although economic stagnation and financial problems lasted beyond the 1990s.
The date is sometimes confused with the later low. December 29, 1989, identifies the market’s record close at the bubble’s top; it does not mark the beginning of the 1990s crash’s lowest point. The Nikkei later traded far below that peak.