The Nikkei 225 reached its pre-bubble record high on December 29, 1989.
The index closed at 38,915.87 on that date, near the end of Japan’s late-1980s asset-price bubble. Japanese share and property prices had risen dramatically amid easy credit, optimistic expectations, and heavy financial-sector lending. The Nikkei’s peak became a reference point for the long decline that followed.
After the bubble burst, Japanese equities fell for years and the economy entered a prolonged period of weak growth and financial stress. The Nikkei did not close above its 1989 peak again until 2024, making the episode one of the longest recoveries in major-market history.
The Nikkei 225 is a price-weighted index of 225 prominent companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is different from TOPIX, which is capitalization-weighted and covers a broader portion of the market. The peak date is sometimes rounded to 1990, but the actual record close was in December 1989.