What was the final trading day of Japan’s Nikkei 225 peak before the 1990s asset-price crash?

December 29, 1989, was the final trading day of Japan’s Nikkei 225 peak before the asset-price crash of the 1990s.

The Nikkei 225 closed at 38,915.87 that day, after a spectacular rise during Japan’s late-1980s asset bubble. Real-estate and share prices had surged, supported by easy credit, optimistic expectations, and strong economic growth.

The Bank of Japan raised interest rates and tightened policy as concern about speculation increased. Asset prices then reversed. The Nikkei fell dramatically during the early 1990s, while land prices also declined and banks were left with large volumes of bad loans.

Japan entered a prolonged period of weak growth and deflation often called the Lost Decades. A common mistake is to treat the event as a single one-day crash like Black Monday; Japan’s collapse was a sustained burst of an enormous stock and property bubble.