This article compares 34 years of movements in Japanese and US share prices and examines Japan’s long-term recovery and the generational shift in investment sentiment based on numerical data. It also touches on changes in social conventions brought about by younger generations’ firsthand perceptions and the decline in the number of people familiar with the past.
Japanese share prices experienced a prolonged slump following the collapse of the bubble economy in the late 1980s. The belief that “stocks rise if you hold them” was once widespread, but in reality, share prices reached their current levels only after a prolonged recovery. Against this backdrop, the article examines how far this belief has diverged from reality. It has been noted that younger generations’ views on investing change as the transmission of past experience weakens.
Comparing Japanese and US share prices on a basis of 1986=100, US stocks have grown over the long term in a steady upward trend, while Japanese stocks have followed a substantially more subdued path. As of the end of September 2026, the S&P 500 stood at approximately 31.6 times, while the Nikkei Average remained at approximately 3.6 times. The US market recovered after episodes including the collapse of the dot-com bubble and the global financial crisis, but Japan has yet to emerge from its prolonged slump after reaching a peak of 208 in 1989.