In 1549, the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier, while in Japan, provided the first European description of the country's sophisticated tuna fishing methods, including the use of longlines and specialized boats. Xavier's letters, written from Kagoshima and other locations, detailed how Japanese fishermen used bamboo poles and barbless hooks to catch large tuna and other pelagic species. This account introduced Europeans to the advanced fishing techniques of East Asia and highlighted the importance of tuna in the Japanese diet. Xavier's observations were later published in European collections of travel narratives.

Xavier's descriptions of Japanese fishing appear in early modern European travel literature and poetry, where they were often romanticized as examples of exotic skill and ingenuity. The letters also influenced the development of the 'fishing in foreign lands' trope in English and Portuguese poetry. Xavier's account remains a valuable source for historians of Japanese fisheries.