 Japan initiated the 1896 Naval Expansion Plan after the First Sino @-@ Japanese War of 1894 – 95 . The plan included four armored cruisers and four battleships , all of which had to be ordered from foreign shipyards as Japan lacked the capability to build them itself . Further consideration of the Russian building program caused the IJN to believe that the battleships ordered under the original plan would not be sufficient to counter the Imperial Russian Navy . Budgetary limitations prevented ordering more battleships and the IJN decided to expand the number of more affordable armored cruisers to be ordered from four to six ships . The revised plan is commonly known as the " Six @-@ Six Fleet " . These ships were purchased using the £ 30 @,@ 000 @,@ 000 indemnity paid by China after losing the First Sino @-@ Japanese War . Unlike most of their contemporaries , which were designed for commerce raiding or to defend colonies and trade routes , the Izumo class was intended as fleet scouts and to be employed in the battleline . 
