They were part of the "Six-Six Fleet" expansion program that began after the defeat of China during the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95.

Shortly before the end of the war, American aircraft inflicted heavy damage on the ship and her crew had to beach her.

The 1896 Naval Expansion Plan was made after the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 and included four armored cruisers in addition to four more battleships, all of which had to be ordered from foreign shipyards as Japan lacked the capability to build them itself.

[2] Unlike most of their contemporaries which were designed for commerce raiding or to defend colonies and trade routes, these cruisers was intended as fleet scouts and to be employed in the battleline.

[3] In June 1896, Sir Andrew Noble, then in Japan, telegraphed Armstrong Whitworth to lay down two stock cruisers.

Work then began on a preliminary design based on an improved version of the earlier Chilean cruiser O'Higgins.

[7] The Asama-class ships had two 4-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines, built by Humphrys, Tennant, each driving a single propeller shaft.

They carried up to 1,390 long tons (1,410 t) of coal[9] and could steam for 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[7] The main armament for all of the "Six-Six Fleet" armored cruisers was four Armstrong Whitworth-built 45-caliber eight-inch guns in twin-gun turrets fore and aft of the superstructure.

The 203-millimeter gun fired 250-pound (113.5 kg) armor-piercing (AP) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,500 feet per second (760 m/s) to a range of 13,200 yards (12,100 m).

[11] The secondary armament consisted of fourteen Elswick Ordnance Company "Pattern Z" quick-firing (QF), 40-caliber, six-inch (152 mm) guns.

[13] The Asama-class ships were equipped with five submerged 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes, two on each broadside, and one above water in the bow.

[14] Before the start of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, Tokiwa supported Japanese forces during the Boxer Rebellion in China[18] while Asama participated in the Coronation Review for King Edward VII in 1902.

[22] They participated in the action of 13 April when Tōgō successfully lured out two battleships of the Russian Pacific Squadron.

Kamimura left Rurik to the tender ministrations of his reinforcements and pursued the two remaining Russian ships for a time before breaking off pursuit prematurely based on an incorrect report that his flagship had expended most of her ammunition.

[26] In the meantime, Asama remained on blockade duty off Port Arthur and participated in a minor way in the Battle of the Yellow Sea.

[27] After the battle, the sisters were refitted and assigned to different units, escorting troop convoys to northern Korea and blockading the Tsugaru Strait until the Russian ships from the Baltic Fleet approached Japan in mid-1905.

Asama and Tokiwa were assigned to the 2nd Division in anticipation of this battle and Kamimura's ships confirmed the initial spotting later that morning before joining Tōgō's battleships.

Rear Admiral Nikolai Nebogatov therefore decided to surrender his ships as he could neither return fire nor close the range.

[33] After the battle, the division covered amphibious landings in northeastern Korea in July and August before the war ended.

[34] In 1910–11 and 1914, Asama served as a training ship, making cruises with naval cadets to North and Central American and Hawaii, among other destinations.

After the start of World War I in August 1914, she was assigned to search for Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee's German East Asia Squadron in the South Sea Islands.

In late October, the ship was ordered to blockade a German gunboat in Honolulu, Hawaii before she was assigned to the American Expeditionary Squadron, the Japanese component of a joint Anglo-Japanese command to protect shipping of the western coast of the Americas, off the Mexican coast after the gunboat was interned in early November.

[35] While entering Puerto San Bartolomé in Baja California in early 1915, Asama struck an uncharted rock and was badly damaged.

[42] In 1937–38, Tokiwa was retrofitted with eight Kampon water-tube boilers that reduced her maximum speed to 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) and her remaining torpedo tubes were removed.

[44] A few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Tokiwa and the other minelayers of the 19th Division of the 4th Fleet escorted two troop transports that carried the occupation forces for the Gilbert Islands.

By this time, her armament had been augmented with approximately ten 25 mm Type 96 AA guns in single mounts and 80 depth charges.

[46] While in northern Japan a few days before the end of the war, Tokiwa was severely damaged by American carrier aircraft and had to be beached by her crew lest she sink.