Mysterious vase!

This vase was in my father's belongings when he passed away many years ago.
I believe it belonged to my step-grandfather. He was an Australian POW under the Japanese and he worked on the infamous Burma railway during WWII.
I think he brought the vase home to Australia with him after the war but I can't be sure.
It appears to be porcelain and has a tribal design.
I originally speculated that it came from an island in the Pacific due to its tribal design but discovered today that it has Made in Japan written on the base!

 

I have not seen that design before, but the type of vase is not uncommon.

 

This is the general type of pottery ...
https://www.google.com/search?q=Tok...-AQ&bih=692&biw=1452&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS900US902

 

Fascinating, thank you so much!

According to Wikipedia (not sure how accurate it is):

"Tokanabe ware was typically black with a stippled texture and hand-painted raised relief designs. Some pieces were also produced in brown, gold or orange. It was stamped Nippon until 1921, when the US Congress passed legislation requiring all products manufactured in Japan for export to the United States to be marked Made in Japan."

This means it was made post 1921 for the US market but somehow it ended up in Canberra, Australia!