[GATOR NAVY]

fyi Fuji-San means Mr. Fuji. Fuji-Yama means Mount Fuji.

My Japanese dictionary says "san" is another reading for and means "mount" as in Mount Fuji.

[Billthedrill]

You are correct, and so was the reporter. Fuji-san is not traditionally (or popularly) referred to as "Fuji-yama" - mostly it's gaijin who do that. Fuji gets special treatment because it is, unlike other mountains, considered a deity.

It's a deity with a Marine Corps base at the bottom. The Marines used to like to hike up with their bicycles on their backs and ride around the crater while I was huffing and puffing to make the top. I climbed it four times in the 80's and 90's. The biggest problem at the time was orange peels and empty cigarette packs, but it was a problem and it's been that way a very long time.

It's a crowded, touristy slog up a treeless volcanic peak (treeless past Station Five, anyway), but one time of the four I got lucky and was at the top to see sunrise on a clear morning. Asahi. Incredible sight.