Samurai Crab Reddit news and images displayed for the first time made some sensation. The faces had a historic meaning unspoken behind them.
Samurai Crab is a Japanese crab with a pattern on its shell that resembles a human face. It is thought to be the face of an angry samurai.
According to The Tale of the Heike, these crabs are thought to be reincarnations of the Heike warriors who were defeated at the Battle of Dan-no-Ura.
The crabs are edible, but the Japanese do not eat them.
Samurai Crab Video On Reddit.
Samurai Crab Reddit news and the video shared afterward did give an understanding of Samurai Crab. The story takes us back to 1185, and the location was a small bay known as Dan-no-ura.
The Heike clan, Japan’s imperial rulers, were on one side, and the Minamoto, upstarts fighting for control of the throne, were on the other. The power of all of Japan was at stake.
The Heike were routed after a half-day of fighting, and their 6-year-old emperor drowned to keep him out of Minamoto’s hands.
Minamoto Yoritomo later became Japan’s first Shogun or military ruler.
Following the battle, a strange story emerged. According to local legend, crabs in the area are said to have strange patterns on their shells that resemble samurai masks.
The crabs were said to be the reincarnations of samurai killed in battle. That is why the Japanese do not eat it.
Amazing Fact: The Crab With A Human Face, Heikegani.
The crabs are strikingly similar to samurai masks. In his show Cosmos, Carl Sagan speculated that the resemblance was due to artificial selection.
People would throwback crabs that looked like samurai masks and ate those that didn’t.
As a result, the population was under pressure to develop shells that resembled masks.
While it sounds good and follows the general pattern of how selective pressures work, there’s one problem: no one eats Heikegani.
Furthermore, crabs with this shell pattern are not limited to that small bay but can be found throughout the Bay of Japan.
Other crab species have similar patterns, though perhaps not as pronounced.
Carl Sagan, a well-known American astronomer, and author, once speculated that the resemblance resulted from artificial selection.
To show respect for the fallen Heike tribe, Sagan proposed that fishermen fishing Japan’s waters throw back any crabs with shells that resembled a samurai’s face.