The Nikkei 225 fell 14.9% during the 1987 global crash’s largest single-day percentage decline for that index.
Japan’s market was one of many major markets hit by Black Monday and its international aftermath. On 20 October 1987, the Nikkei 225 suffered a fall of about 14.9%, reflecting the worldwide shock that had begun with Wall Street’s collapse on 19 October.
The Nikkei was then in a powerful long-term rise, supported by Japan’s property and equity boom. Although the 1987 crash was severe, Japanese stocks later continued climbing and reached their historic peak in December 1989. That peak was followed by the prolonged collapse associated with Japan’s asset-price bubble.
A common confusion is to identify the Nikkei’s 1987 fall with the later bursting of Japan’s bubble. They were separate episodes: the first was a global one-day crash, while the second developed after the market’s 1989 peak and contributed to Japan’s “Lost Decades.”