Which Japanese asset bubble crash began after the Nikkei 225 peaked at 38,957.44 in 1989?

The Japanese asset price bubble was the speculative boom whose collapse followed the Nikkei 225’s peak of 38,957.44 on December 29, 1989. Japanese share and land prices had risen to extraordinary levels during the second half of the 1980s.

After monetary tightening and other policy changes, asset prices began falling. The Nikkei lost roughly half its value during 1990, while commercial land prices also declined sharply. Banks were left with large portfolios of troubled loans secured by overvalued property, weakening credit and investment.

The collapse contributed to Japan’s prolonged economic stagnation, often called the Lost Decades. It is not the same event as the 1987 global stock-market crash: Japan’s bubble peaked in late 1989 and its consequences unfolded over many years. The Nikkei eventually fell far below its bubble-era high before recovering in later decades.