During our interview at his office in the embassy’s residence, I inquire more about his passion for baseball – I can tell instantly tell he has a passion for the game.    “It was a great thrill to throw a first pitch at the Nationals game,” he boasts with a gleam in his eye. But then, feigning humility, he adds, “but I threw it a bit too high.”    He is a baseball aficionado – and he has the baseball memorabilia collection to prove it.    “One of the rarest collector’s items I have is a baseball signed by both Willie Mays and Joe DiMaggio,” he says.    He also has a 1955 New York Yankees autographed baseball; an autographed home plate from Coors Field; a bat autographed by Ted Williams and another signed by an entire Nationals squad; a personally signed baseball from Cal Ripken, Jr.; and enough autographed jerseys to make a teenager give up Xbox360. Forever    Throughout our trip down memorabilia lane, his wife, Hanayo Kato, has sat silently amused – after nearly 35 years of marriage she is well acquainted with her husband’s passion for baseball. Meanwhile, I can’t help but wonder how in the world he convinced her to convert the music room of the residence into a shrine for major league baseball memorabilia. I’m convinced that in later years he will playfully list this among his many foreign policy achievements Architecturally Speaking    Change comes slowly, if ever, to the interiors of 4000 Nebraska Ave. NW – late architect Isoya Yoshida mandated it that way.    “Mr. Yoshida said that each room can only have one art piece, so everything is already set. Luckily, that means I don’t have to worry about it,” Mrs. Kato says, adding: “But in the private areas we have hung some of our own art. Recently, we added wheelchair access to the garden. But basically we stay true to Mr. Yoshida’s vision.    ”This vision has brought distinct themes to each room. The Grand Salon’s autumn motif, for example, is achieved through leaf patterns on the hand-loomed wool carpet and a reed design which has been woven into the cloth wall paper. The room’s shoji, or sliding paper screens, add a classic Japanese touch    In the main hallway, the small salon and dining rooms, grand and unabashedly modern chandeliers drive the look and feel without stealing away the simplicity of the rooms’ overall style. Custom-made by Minami Tada, the chandeliers both illuminate and serve as inspiring ceiling sculptures.    Step into the tempura room and, thanks to the bamboo touches, it feels like one has entered a high-end Japanese restaurant. The room serves as an intimate dining room where guests are served directly from behind a bar..    The residence’s formidable art collection is not to be overlooked. Since the rooms are spacious with tall ceilings – and designer Yoshida instructed that each has only one artwork – the pieces tend to be very large. Higashiyama Kaii’s “Clouds Arising in the Deep Mountain” is 9.75’ x 7.17’; Shinoda Toko’s “Destination” is 11.5’ x 7.17’; and Kayama Matazo’s, “Four Seasons,” at 19.7’ x 5.8’, rounds