Which index reached its pre-crash peak in Japan on December 29, 1989?

The Nikkei 225 reached its pre-crash peak on December 29, 1989.

The index closed at 38,915.87, marking the high point of Japan’s late-1980s asset-price bubble. Japanese land and equity prices had risen dramatically amid easy credit, strong optimism, and expectations of continuing economic expansion. The Nikkei’s peak became a reference point for the long market decline that followed.

After the Bank of Japan tightened monetary policy and the bubble burst, share and property prices fell sharply. The Japanese economy entered a prolonged period of weak growth and financial strain often called the Lost Decades. Banks carried bad loans, and companies reduced investment and debt.

The Nikkei 225 is a price-weighted index of 225 major companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Market. It is not identical to TOPIX, which uses a different construction. That distinction matters when comparing Japanese market performance across the bubble and its aftermath.