The Mikado of the title character as a disrespectful representation of the revered Meiji Emperor; Japanese theatre was prohibited from depicting the emperor on stage. Japanese Prince Komatsu Akihito, who saw an 1886 production in London, took no offence. When Prince Fushimi Sadanaru made a state visit in 1907, the British government banned performances of "The Mikado" from London for six weeks, fearing that the play might offend him – a manoeuvre that backfired when the prince complained that he had hoped to see "The Mikado" during his stay. A Japanese journalist covering the prince's stay attended a proscribed performance and confessed
The Mikado when a royal command for an execution is given, the victim is, legally speaking, as good as dead, "and if he "is" dead, why not say so?" The Mikado deems that "Nothing could possibly be more satisfactory", and everyone in Titipu celebrates ("For he's gone and married Yum-Yum"). "The Mikado" had the longest original run of the Savoy Operas. It also had the quickest revival: after Gilbert and Sullivan's next work, "Ruddigore", closed relatively quickly, three operas were revived to fill the interregnum until "The Yeomen of the Guard" was ready, with "The Mikado" being revived just seventeen months after