The Nikkei 225 fell by nearly 80% during Japan’s post-1989 asset-price crash.
Japan’s extraordinary late-1980s bubble pushed the Nikkei 225 to an intraday record of 38,957.44 on December 29, 1989. After the bubble burst, Japanese share prices declined for years, and the index reached a low near 7,054 in March 2009 during the global financial crisis.
The collapse was part of a broader asset-price bust involving commercial land and residential property. Banks were left with bad loans, businesses reduced investment, and the economy entered a prolonged period often called the Lost Decades. The Nikkei and TOPIX are both major Japanese indexes, but they are not identical: the Nikkei is price-weighted, while TOPIX is capitalization-weighted. The question’s nearly 80% figure refers to the Nikkei’s long fall from its 1989 peak.