The Nikkei 225 reached its pre-crash peak of 38,915.87 on December 29, 1989.
The record came near the end of Japan’s asset-price bubble, when land and equities had risen to exceptionally high valuations. After the bubble burst, Japanese share prices fell dramatically, while banks and companies struggled with bad loans and weakened balance sheets.
The Nikkei 225 is a price-weighted index of 225 major companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Market. Because it is price-weighted, companies with higher share prices have more influence than companies with lower share prices, regardless of their total market value.
The 1989 peak remained below its later inflation-adjusted significance for decades and was not surpassed until 2024. The broader TOPIX is a different Japanese index, so it should not be substituted for the Nikkei 225 in this question.