The Nikkei 225 closed at 38,915.87 at its asset-price-bubble peak on 29 December 1989.
That closing level represented the culmination of a spectacular rise in Japanese equities during the 1980s. Low interest rates, abundant bank lending, strong corporate optimism, and rising property values helped drive demand for shares. The index became a visible symbol of Japan's financial boom.
The peak was followed by a major reversal. The Nikkei fell through 1990 as monetary conditions tightened and confidence in inflated asset values weakened. Declining property prices then damaged bank balance sheets because land had often been used as collateral. These pressures contributed to Japan's prolonged economic stagnation, sometimes described as the Lost Decades.
A common mistake is to treat the peak level as an annual average or an intraday quotation. 38,915.87 was the closing value recorded on the final trading day of 1989. The index later moved far below that level before eventually recovering much of its lost ground.