Japan's stock-market crash began in 1989 when the Nikkei 225 reached its peak.
The Nikkei 225 closed at 38,915.87 on December 29, 1989. That record followed a major asset boom in Japanese stocks and real estate. Easy credit, optimistic expectations, and rapidly rising land values had pushed asset prices far above levels supported by ordinary economic returns.
After the peak, Japanese share and property prices fell for years. The bursting bubble weakened banks, households, companies, and government finances. The prolonged period of sluggish growth and deflation became known as Japan's Lost Decades, although the exact dating and description of that period are debated.
The event is often called a stock-market crash, but it was part of a broader asset-price collapse. The Nikkei's decline was not limited to a single trading day, and Japan's banking problems continued long after the index first turned downward.