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 (Millennium) Gibron compared the episode to the films "Seven" and "8mm"; he also felt that the unresolved plot helped to temper concerns about Black's seeming infallibility. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book "Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen", rated "The Mikado" three-and-a-half stars out of five. Shearman felt that although the episode's details seem dated, its verisimilitude and enthusiasm helps to overcome this; he noted that the episode "turns us all into spectators, and turns death into performance art". The Mikado (Millennium) "'The Mikado" is the thirteenth episode of the second