The Nikkei 225 reached 38,915.87 at the peak of Japan’s late-1980s asset bubble.
The record was set on December 29, 1989, after years of surging Japanese share and land prices. Easy credit, strong optimism, financial deregulation, and speculative buying helped push valuations to extraordinary levels. The Nikkei’s peak became a landmark before the bubble deflated and Japan entered a prolonged period of weak growth, falling asset prices, and banking-sector stress.
The Nikkei 225 is a price-weighted index of 225 major companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Market. It is distinct from the broader TOPIX, which is capitalization-weighted. Although the 1989 peak is commonly used to symbolize the crash of Japan’s bubble economy, the decline unfolded over years rather than in one universally named trading day.