Combat experience in the First Sino @-@ Japanese War of 1894 – 95 convinced the Imperial Japanese Navy of weaknesses in the Jeune École naval philosophy , which emphasized torpedo boats and commerce raiding to offset expensive heavily armoured ships . Therefore , Japan promulgated a ten @-@ year naval build @-@ up in early 1896 , to modernize and expand its fleet in preparation for further confrontations , with the construction of six battleships and six armoured cruisers at its core . These ships were paid for from the £ 30 @,@ 000 @,@ 000 indemnity paid by China after losing the First Sino @-@ Japanese War . As with the earlier Fuji and Shikishima classes , Japan lacked the technology and capability to construct its own battleships , and turned again to the United Kingdom for the four remaining battleships of the programme . Asahi , the fifth Japanese battleship to be built in Britain , was ordered from the Clydebank Engineering & Shipbuilding Company shipyard in Clydebank , Scotland in the 1897 annual naval programme .