Japan experienced the stock-market crash that followed the Nikkei 225 peak on 29 December 1989.
The Nikkei 225 reached an intraday record of 38,957.44 on that date, near the end of Japan’s asset-price bubble. During the late 1980s, abundant credit, low interest rates, and strong optimism pushed both share and land prices to extraordinary levels.
The Bank of Japan later tightened monetary policy, and asset prices began to fall. The Nikkei entered a prolonged decline, while banks and companies struggled with bad loans and falling collateral values. Japan’s subsequent stagnation is often called the Lost Decades.
The crash is sometimes described as beginning in 1990 because the major decline unfolded during that year, even though the index’s historic peak came in December 1989. Japan’s experience became an important warning about asset bubbles and delayed financial restructuring.