Japan’s stock exchange was the main setting of the crash that ended the Japanese asset-price bubble.
Japanese share and land prices rose dramatically during the late 1980s. The Nikkei 225 reached its historic peak of 38,957.44 on December 29, 1989. After that peak, prices fell for years, while the property market also collapsed.
The bubble had been supported by easy credit, optimistic expectations, and rapid asset-price growth. When financial conditions tightened and confidence reversed, banks and companies were left with large amounts of troubled debt. The resulting period is often called Japan’s “Lost Decades,” although the phrase covers more than one decade.
The crash was not a single one-day event comparable to Black Monday. It was a prolonged decline in Japanese asset prices. The Nikkei later took decades to approach its old peak again, making the episode a major example of how asset bubbles can leave long-lasting economic effects.