during the 1880s, france took the lead in influence, due to its "jeune école" doctrine favoring small, fast warships, especially cruisers and torpedo boats, against bigger units. the meiji government issued its first naval expansion bill in 1882, requiring the construction of 48 warships, of which 22 were to be torpedo boats. the naval successes of the french navy against china in the sino-french war of 1883–85 seemed to validate the potential of torpedo boats, an approach which was also attractive to the limited resources of japan. in 1885, the new navy slogan became "kaikoku nippon" (, "maritime japan").