Seitenkyū, Taoist temple in Sakado, Japan.

Seitenkyū is a Taoist temple in Sakado, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its free-standing gate has a curved, multi-tiered roof of orange-gold tiles, with sculpted dragons and a flaming ornament on the ridges and rows of small golden bells under the eaves. Four square pillars carry vertical white plaques with black characters, and pale stone guardian lions sit at the bases of the central pillars.

A Taiwanese businessman named Kang Kuo Den started building in 1981 and finished the structure in 1995. The site grew from a private project into an open religious space for visitors and worshippers.

The temple keeps no parish register and does not preach, and its grounds have no Chinese-language signs; its website is Japanese only. Visitors can try Taoist worship: throwing two half-moon wooden blocks, offering 35-centimetre incense sticks, and burning paper 'shoujin' money. Vending machines sell Taiwanese snacks such as bubble tea, soy milk, century eggs and pineapple cakes.

The temple sits about a thirty-minute walk from Wakaba Station on the Tobu Tojo Line, with bus options that shorten the journey. Visitors should wear comfortable shoes, as the grounds include several pavilions and paved pathways.

The gate's roof ridges carry sculpted dragons and a flaming central ornament, with rows of small golden bells hanging beneath the eaves. The yellow roof tiles signify the centre in Yellow River civilisation. Most roof ornaments are made with jiannian, a southern Chinese technique setting coloured ceramic and glass shards into a plaster core over wire.