Mikado takes its name from an old title for the Emperor of Japan. The hamlet was founded in the years after Japan won a string of victories over the Russian Empire in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 to 1905. Britain was Japan's ally in that war, and Japan enjoyed a new wave of popularity across the British Empire.
That mood left its mark on the map of Saskatchewan. Three towns along the CN line, Togo, Kuroki and Mikado, were named in honour of Japanese achievements in the war. So were a regional park called Oyama and a CN siding called Fukushiama.
Today Mikado is a hamlet in the Rural Municipality of Sliding Hills No. 273, at the intersection of Highway 5 and Highway 754. It still has a rail link: a flag stop here serves Via Rail's Winnipeg–Churchill train.
Written from Wikipedia’s article “Mikado, Saskatchewan” (CC BY-SA 4.0), and shared under the same licence.