[3] Heikegani were used by Carl Sagan in his popular science television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage as an example of unintentional artificial selection,[4] an interpretation originally published by Julian Huxley in 1952.

Joel Martin, for instance, notes that humans do not eat Heikegani, and as such there is no artificial pressure favoring face-like shell patterns, contrary to Sagan's implication.

This crucial battle was a cultural and political turning point in Japanese history: Minamoto Yoritomo became the first Shōgun, or military ruler, of Japan.

Heike crabs appear as an important part of the plot in one of the comic book stories of Usagi Yojimbo, a rabbit samurai character created by Stan Sakai.

The "Grass cutter" story published in volume 2 of the Usagi saga tells the legend of how a sacred sword kusanagi was lost and then found with help from samurai crabs.