Heptathela kimurai was first described by Kyukichi Kishida in 1920, when it was placed in the genus Liphistius as L. kimurai. In 1923, Kishida erected the genus Heptathela for the species, as on re-examination he decided it was sufficiently distinct from spiders of the genus Liphistius. The species name kimurai honours the collector, Arika Kimura.
