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(1980–2005) compared to home price appreciation the United States , Britain , and Australia (1995–2005).]] The Japanese asset price bubble was a time of skyrocketing land and stock prices in the Japanese Economy , lasting from 1986 to 1990 . It is one of the most famous Economic Bubble s (jap. ''baburu keizai'' バブル経済). In the decades following World War II, Japan implemented stringent tariffs and policies to encourage the people to save their income. With more money in banks, loans and credit became more easy to obtain, and with Japan running large trade surpluses, the Yen was able to appreciate against foreign currencies. This allowed Japanese companies to invest in capital resources much more easily than their competitors, which made goods cheaper, which widened the trade surplus further. And, with the Yen appreciating, financial assets became very lucrative. Unfortunately, with so much money readily available for investment, speculation was inevitable, particularly in the Nikkei stock exchange and the real estate market. So high did the rates for housing, stocks, and bonds rise, that at one point the government even issued 100 year bonds. With credit so easily obtained, banks were also making increasingly foolish loans. At the height of the bubble, "it was a matter of pride that the land around the Imperial Palace in Tokyo was at one point worth more than California," the '' Financial Times '' said. Japan regained a sense of national pride and assertiveness as a result of its new power, which manifested itself in works such as '' The Japan That Can Say No '' by Shintaro Ishihara and SONY founder Akio Morita . Accounts also report of high-level executives eating Gold -sprinkled food and eating with gold chopsticks. Many in the US and other countries were alarmed by this Japanese resurgence, leading to criticism from foreign observers. Michael Crichton , for example, wrote '' Rising Sun '' at this time, which highlighted (some say unfairly) problems with the growing Japanese economic power. Prices were highest in Tokyo's Ginza district in 1989, with some fetching over US $1.5 million per square meter ($139,000 per square foot), and just a bit less exorbitant in other areas of Tokyo. By 2004, prime "A" property in Tokyo's financial districts were less than 1/100th of their peak, and Tokyo's residential homes were 1/10th of their peak, but still managed to be listed as the most expensive real estate in the world. Some US $20 trillion (1999 dollars) was wiped out with the combined real estate and Nikkei stock market collapse. With Japan's economy driven by its high rates of reinvestment, this crash hit particularly hard. Investments were made increasingly out of the country, and Japanese manufacturing firms lost much of their technological edge. As Japanese products became less competitive overseas, the low consumption rate began to bear on the economy, causing a deflationary spiral. The easily obtainable credit that had helped create and engorge the real estate bubble continued to be a problem for several years to come, and as late as 1997, banks were still making loans that had a low guarantee of being repaid. Correcting the credit problem became even more difficult as the government began to subsidize failing banks and businesses, creating many "zombie businesses." The time after the bubble's collapse (''hōkai'' 崩壊), which occurred gradually rather than catastrophically, is known as the " Lost Decade " (''ushinawareta jūnen'' 失われた10年) in Japan. EXTERNAL LINK
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