The Nikkei 225’s Japanese stock-market peak in 1989 was a closing level of 38,915.87.
The index reached that record close on December 29, 1989, at the end of Japan’s extraordinary late-1980s asset boom. The Nikkei 225 tracks 225 leading companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is Japan’s best-known stock-market index. Its record reflected both strong economic optimism and valuations that had become detached from sustainable earnings.
After the peak, Japanese shares fell dramatically as the asset bubble burst. The decline was accompanied by a prolonged banking and economic crisis, with bad loans and falling property prices weighing on recovery. The Nikkei did not return to its 1989 closing high for decades.
The figure is a closing value, not an intraday high or a percentage. That distinction matters because financial indexes can record different daily high, low, and closing numbers. The date and exact close are frequently cited together when describing Japan’s bubble.