Japan experienced the 1989 stock-market crash after the Nikkei 225 reached its historic peak.
The Nikkei 225 closed at 38,915.87 on December 29, 1989, its record closing level for many years. The peak came during an enormous Japanese asset-price bubble in which urban land and equities rose dramatically. Loose credit, optimistic expectations, and rapid financial expansion helped push asset valuations to extraordinary levels.
After the bubble burst, Japanese share prices and property values fell for years. Banks were left with bad loans, companies reduced investment, and the economy struggled with deflation and weak growth. The prolonged aftermath became associated with Japan’s “Lost Decades,” although the timing and number of decades are debated by economists.
The question concerns the country, not the name of the bubble. “Japanese asset price bubble” describes the broader boom and collapse, while the Nikkei 225 is the stock index used to track a major part of the equity market. Japan’s experience also differs from a one-day crash because the decline continued over a prolonged period.