Which speculative bubble burst when Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell from its 1989 peak?

The speculative bubble whose collapse followed the 1989 Nikkei 225 peak was Japan’s asset price bubble.

Japanese land and stock prices rose dramatically during the second half of the 1980s. Easy credit, optimistic expectations, and aggressive lending helped push valuations to extraordinary levels. The Nikkei 225 reached its historical closing high of 38,915.87 on 29 December 1989.

The Bank of Japan tightened monetary policy, and asset prices began to fall. The decline in equities and real estate damaged banks and companies whose balance sheets depended on inflated collateral values. Japan then endured a prolonged period of weak growth, falling prices, and financial-sector problems, often called the “Lost Decades.” The bubble is sometimes described as a stock-market crash alone, but its defining feature was the simultaneous inflation and collapse of both equity and property prices. The Nikkei did not return to its 1989 peak for decades.