Another false dawn for Japan? But this poor run of form is the attraction for more contrarian pundits. Darius McDermott of Chelsea Financial Services said: "It's an extremely cyclical market so not for the faint-hearted. But I've been invested in the market for a few years now, and while it can hurt at times I've had more good years than bad. He said he hoped that 2013 would be one of the good years. The market is looking attractive on valuations, with almost two thirds of listed companies trading below book value. In other words, if these companies were wound up the value of the surplus assets after paying all liabilities would exceed the market value. "The sector is also prone to sharp rallies as it is highly aligned with the global economy," Mr McDermott said. If this improves, which I think it will, we could see a significant recovery in share prices in this region. Fund managers who are invested in the region are also optimistic that the election could trigger a stock market rally. Simon Somerville, the manager of Jupiter Japan Income, said: "The election should be regarded as a positive for Japanese equities. The key catalyst to unlock the value inherent in the Japanese market is inflation, and here [the Liberal Democratic Party] has taken a very positive stance, with a 2pc inflation and a 3pc growth target. Ruth Nash, the manager of JO Hambro's Japan fund, said: "Usually politics is irrelevant to the Japanese market. Companies have long since given up any hope of clear political leadership and a concerted government effort to end deflation. This time, however, things seem slightly different. As she pointed out, the incoming prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has talked of setting up a new body charged with reviving the economy. Stimulus measures could include cutting corporation tax. Ahead of the election the yen also weakened, which could attract foreign investors. But these positive signals have to be set against more troubling economic headwinds. Patrick Connolly of AWD Chase de Vere, the advisory firm, said: "Japan still has major problems that have not been adequately addressed. Despite encouraging words, we are not convinced this will change following the election; we want to see action before recommending investors start to buy Japanese shares or funds. These problems include an ageing population, high levels of household debt, stagnant growth and an exchange rate that has hit the country's exports. However, while Mr Connolly remained cautious, he conceded that Japanese equities looked good value, and there could be short periods when its stock market performs strongly. So what is the best way to gain exposure to this market? Tom Purdie of FundExpert said: "Japan remains one of the cheapest sectors in the world. At some point there should be a catalyst enabling this sector to explode upwards. But while there remain huge risks we recommend investing into a fund monthly, allowing investors to build their exposure gradually. He also said currency fluctuations could provide additional risk for British investors. With vast amounts of debt and an ageing population, Japan is now very close to the point where it has to inflate its debt away, probably via massive central bank action. This could cause the yen to collapse. Financial advisers said there were a number of funds worth considering. Mr McDermott favoured JOHCM Japan and Jupiter Japan Income; Mr Connolly also recommended the Jupiter fund, as well as Aberdeen Japan Growth and Schroder Tokyo.