Japan experienced the 1990 stock-market crash after the collapse of its late-1980s asset bubble.
Japanese share and land prices rose dramatically during the second half of the 1980s. The Nikkei 225 reached its peak of 38,957.44 on December 29, 1989, and then began a prolonged decline as monetary policy tightened and speculative valuations unwound.
The crash was part of the broader collapse of Japan’s asset-price bubble. Falling collateral values weakened banks and companies, and the country entered a long period of slow growth often called the Lost Decades.
The event is sometimes described as a single crash in 1990, but the adjustment continued for years. The Nikkei did not return to its 1989 peak for decades, illustrating how a market collapse can have effects far beyond the initial fall in prices.