Kyōkō-ji, Buddhist temple in Yao, Japan

Kyōkō-ji is a Shingon Ritsu temple in Yao, Osaka Prefecture, with the mountain name Shishiku-san. Only the guest hall (now serving as the main hall), the mountain gate and the bell tower remain, all built in the Jōkyō era (1684–1687). Two small ponds, the Jike and Daimon-ike, lie in the grounds beside a large camphor tree, and a Phoenix palm grows at the eastern edge where the main hall once stood.

According to temple tradition, Prince Shōtoku ordered Hata no Kawakatsu to found Kyōkō-ji in 588 to pray for the defeat of Mononobe no Moriya. The temple fell into ruin in the Middle Ages and was restored by Eison of Saidai-ji between 1269 and 1270. In 1562, during the Battle of Kyōkōji, the temple burned down; it was rebuilt by the monk Jōgan in the 1680s.

Locals call it Yabudera, "the temple in the thicket", after the dense undergrowth that once covered the grounds. The temple belongs to the Shingon Ritsu school and is a branch temple of Saidai-ji in Nara. The Edo-period monk Jōgan, credited with restoring the site in the 1680s, was a friend of the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who is said to have lodged here for a time.

Kyōkō-ji is reached from Kintetsu Takayasu Station by walking about 15 minutes east. By road, take the Kyōkōji intersection on National Route 170 and head east; the mountain gate stands just past the old route, the Higashi-Kōya Kaidō. Only the guest hall, mountain gate and bell tower remain, with two small ponds, the Jike and Daimon ponds, on the grounds.

The 1562 battle at Kyōkō-ji pitted Hatakeyama Takamasa, who had encamped here, against the forces of Miyoshi Yoshifumi and Matsunaga Hisahide. The temple was burned in the fighting, losing its main hall and many buildings. Its name is written 教興寺, not 教光寺.