Pink Flamingos, Their Nests, and Occupied Japan

Here's a perfect example of the twisted way my mind works. Find this Florida souvenir plate at the Goodwill and am immediately drawn to the hand painted pink flamingos. Then notice that one of the flamingos is feeding a baby and it's in my cart. Didn't even notice the Occupied Japan stamp on the back until I got it home. Of course all that stamp means is that it was made sometime between 1945, or the end of WWII, and the early 1950's. The fact that it's handpainted probably says it was made in the 1940's, before the big Made in Japan boom of automated exports.

What really gets me is the detail. A search of flamingos on the web shows that this is how they build their nests, mini volcano looking mounds of mud. Only I can't find any reference to flamingos being native to Japan. So who was the person, probably American, that explained flamingos and their breeding habits to a Japanese artist? Were they homesick? a birdwatcher? What were they doing in Japan? Was it a military man brought in specifically to explain flamingos or a southern businessman trying to get a good deal on gift shop items? Who took the time to provide the correct details for this scene rather than just a painted bird and a palm tree?

Obviously the design didn't take as you don't see it in any of the later mass-produced Florida plates. I like this one a lot better even if it is a little rough looking. And now I know how flamingo nests look - and so do you.