So when Ashigara attended King George's coronation as representative of Japan, a UK journalist, or in other account, foreign naval officers, gave the nickname hungered wolf because Japan's ship is so slim compared to the Royal Navy's (like a wolf that hasn't had anything to eat for long time)
But it's misunderstanding on both side. The UK journalist doesn't realize that the IJN is not a blue water navy, unlike the Royal Navy who need to project their power to three oceans (Empire where sun never sets), so the ship design is focused on defending home water.
And the Japanese thought the nickname is a praise, which it's not.
