The Nikkei 225 has slid by more than 20 percent since last month, after reaching all-time highs of over 42,000 points in July.
Markets fell across the region: South Korea’s Kospi index by 8.77 percent; Taiwan’s Taiex by 8.35 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 by 3.7 percent.
The dips come after a two-day Wall Street rout attributed to weaker than expected U.S. economic data.
The Nikkei suffered a nearly 15 percent fall on Oct. 20, 1987, in the wake of the Black Monday Wall Street crash that year.
Julia Mio Inuma in Tokyo contributed to this report.