Japan’s Nikkei 225 reached a record closing value of 38,915.87 on 29 December 1989, before the asset-bubble crash.
The peak came near the end of Japan’s late-1980s asset-price boom. Easy credit, rising land prices, and strong investor confidence helped push stock and property valuations to extraordinary levels. The Nikkei then fell sharply as monetary policy tightened and the bubble burst.
The decline was not an overnight event. Japanese equities remained far below the 1989 peak for decades, while the country experienced weak growth, falling asset prices, and banking problems. This prolonged period is often called Japan’s “Lost Decades.”
The Nikkei 225 is a price-weighted index of 225 major companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Market. It is not the same as Japan’s broader TOPIX index, so records for the two benchmarks should not be confused.