I’ve studied and worked in Japan for three years. During part of that time, I lived in a Shinto shrine—a sort of temple—where I interned with a troupe of taiko drummers. Here is a demonstration of some of the rhythms I learned. The mask I’m wearing was made by my sister, artist Joan Gollub. It was made to loosely resemble an oni, the sort of Japanese goblins that appear in one of my books.