glohgi: masa — do you iiis “snapshots”?
The Little Jap
llis pictures were anion» llu» first
to tell the world about the beauties
of the Great Smoky .Mountains.
The haze of the western North Caro¬
lina mountains breeds legends, stories
about brave or wicked or mysterious
men who have spent a while in their
fastness and moved on. leaving an im¬
print that is told in song or story, or
that finds its way into history.
One of these figures, who came out
of the mists of a foreign country, and
of the period prior to the First World
War. was George Masa. "the little Jap"
artist and photographer who lived in
Asheville for 18 years and who loved
the mountains with a passion. He de¬
veloped. through hiking and the taking
of rare and beautiful pictures, as ex¬
tensive a knowledge of the mountains
of the western part of the state as any¬
one up to his time: he marked many of
the trails in the unbroken forests that
became the Smoky Mountains Nation¬
al Park.
Masa died in Asheville in 1933 of
tuberculosis to which he gave no quar¬
ter in the rugged trips he took through
the mountains.
George Masa's story has an aura of
mystery — which makes for good leg¬
end. The facts about his personal life
arc few, for he talked little about that
part of it before his arrival in Ashe¬
ville in 1915. To Blake Crcasman, his
assistant and later his business part¬
ner, and to the Crcasman family he
told what is now known. To his many
other friends he talked about moun¬
tains and pictures.
Cuts Japanese Tics
George's father was a jeweler in Ja¬
pan. George was sent as a young
man to the University of California,
where he studied mining engineering.
The death of his father put an end
to a college career and to his ties with
Japan. George pursued some phase of
engineering work in Colorado, and in
1915 came to Asheville with a group
of foreigners that the late Fred Seely,
then owner and manager of Grove
Park Inn. remembered as Austrians.
With this group. George look extensive
mountain trips. When they left Ashe¬
ville he remained behind, working first
in the pressing and valet service at the
Inn. and later as a craftsman in the
woodcarving shop of Biltmorc Indus¬
tries.
Recognizing the interest of visitors
in photography, George started a small
part-time business of developing films
for guests at two local hotels. Blake
Crcasman, than a young school boy.
became his assistant, picking up the
rolls of film after school.
Soon George devoted full time to
photography, building up a flourish¬
ing commercial, news, and news reel
—
«!/
—
VIRGINIA T. LATH
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service. At one time he was the repre¬
sentative in North Carolina. South
Carolina and parts of Georgia and
Tennessee for both Pathc and Para¬
mount News.
George's real interest, however, was
in taking pictures of the mountains.
Until only a few weeks before his
death he spent all the time he could
in the forests, much of it in the then
undeveloped Smoky Mountains Nation¬
al Park, waiting with endless patience
for the perfect moment to take a pic¬
ture at its best, a picture that he could
visualize with his artist’s eye, before
it materialized.
His Japanese name was Masahara
Iizuka. but he told the Crcasmans that
he had taken the name of George when
he was converted to Christianity in
TIIK STATU, Vol. XXI: No. 14. Knlcred as second-class mailer, June I. 1413. ai Hie
ГочоШсе
al Raleigh. Norih Carolina, under the acl
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March 1, 1879. Published by Sharpe Publishing Co.. Inc.. Uwyrr» Hide.. Raleigh, N. C. Copyright. 19S3. by Ihc Sharpe Publishing Co.. Inc.
