Crabs

In Japan, the mythology of Heike-gani and why this animal has a human face on its back is taught even in classrooms at public schools throughout the nation of Japan. The back of the Heike-gani has the face of an angry Japanese samurai warrior - face of the Tiara clan.

The human-faced crabs in Japan from Fauna Japonica. Crustacea. (detail of the Heike-gani in the right)

From the top: Heike-gani, Samehada-heike-gani (Shark-skin Taira-clan’s crab), Kimen-gani (Devil’s mask crab)

Kyoto University Library in Japan

The species of the crab known as Heikea Japonica is found in Japanese waters. The generic name, Heikea, comes from a japanese clan called the Heike, who were defeated at sea in the battle of Danno-Ura (1185) by a river clan called Genji. Legend tells that the ghosts of drowned Heike warriors now inhabit the bottom of the sea, in the bodies of crabs - Heikea Japonica. The myth is encouraged by the pattern on the back of the this crab, which resembles the fiercely grimacing face of a samurai warrior

Heikea Japonica