Ever since the early stages of the Hughesy-Madam scenario, our acquaintance, the inimitable Merry Frockster has consistently babbled various non-sequiturs. Popular topics include Madam's Swedish origins, Kobe carnations and the desirability of planting a Bowen mango tree on the summit of Mount Fuji.
In these circumstances, people who know The Frockster as well as we do will roll their eyes and mumble something about Bloody Eylesy. That would probably be followed by a mental opinion that he's dribbling again.
But we know the gentleman and his quirks and foibles.
The deities and spirits who guard Japan's sacred mountain, on the other hand, have been denied the pleasures of The Frockster's mental ramblings and imaginative gymnastics.
Suggestions that we should commit an act of sacrilege might equate to travellers arriving at the foot of the actual Mount Fuji with an actual mango sapling or seed.
Caring for a national symbol would be the sort of responsibility that would make serious inroads into your sense of humour. Assuming, of course, you happened to have one in the first place.
One suspects a certain humourlessness would be one of the critical qualifications for a Guardian of National Treasures. So you wouldn't regard an affinity towards practical joking and wizard japes as desirable traits for anyone interested in the position.
That, in any case, is the theory that emerged after two days in Hakone, and a subsequent rail leg between Tokyo and Nagoya failed to deliver a sighting of Fuji-san.
Hakone, for a start, boasts several locations regarded as prime spots for Fuji viewing.
Promotional photographs show a speeding Shinkansen with a snow-capped Fuji in the background, but throughout our visit in 2008 the mountain was concealed under a blanket of cloud.
While it took us four and a bit years to bring Hughesy back to the Land of the Rising Sun, it seemed guardians of sacred mountains have long memories.
We passed the mountain on the way north to Kitakami and points beyond, and again on the way back. On each occasion, the weather forecasts seemed to suggest a reasonable chance of catching a glimpse (at least).
But, again, no dice.
On that basis, Hughesy wasn't exactly hopeful the 2013 visit would deliver anything different.
The way north runs through Nagoya and Matsumoto rather than Odawara and Yokohama. I'm almost willing to bet that the route from Tokyo to Osaka on 14 December will take us through sleet and snow, or, at least, enough of it to obscure the mountain yet again.
But maybe, just maybe, the actions of a contrite, penitent and respectful Hughesy in tapping out this little mea culpa in the lobby of Kobe's Okura Hotel might propitiate the guardians.
Something needs to...