Uda Kunihisa belongs to the Uda school, which traces its origins to the late Kamakura-period smith Konyudo Kunimitsu, who relocated from Uda District in Yamato Province to Etchu. In the Nanbokucho period smiths such as Kunifusa, Kunimune, and Kunitsugu were active, and the line flourished through successive generations down to the end of the Muromachi period. According to the sword reference compendia, Kunihisa is traditionally said to have been the son of Kunifusa (or, in some sources, Kunimune), and beginning with the Oei era there were several generations using the same name, continuing through as many as six generations down to the Bunmei era. Works that do not descend past the Nanbokucho period are termed Ko-Uda, while later works are broadly referred to simply as Uda.

Because the group originally came from Yamato Province, many works naturally display a strong Yamato temperament, and at the same time examples with a Soshu-den flavor also exist. The jigane of Kunihisa around the Oei era is characteristically a dense ko-itame mixed with mokume, with abundant ji-nie and finely entering chikei; the steel often shows a somewhat blackish tone, with a faintly whitish utsuri-like appearance or shirake-utsuri standing up. The hamon ranges from chu-suguha toned with accompanying ko-gunome to shallow notare mixed with gunome and angular kakuba elements. The school's distinctive, strongly lustrous, rounded ha-nie adhere thickly, and kinsuji and sunagashi run through the tempered area. The boshi characteristically tends toward a pointed tip with a long kaeri and yakisage, reflecting mannerisms in which the school's traits are conspicuously manifested. In both jigane and hamon, the finest Oei-era works amply display the style so characteristic of the school -- so fine, as the setsumei note, as to nearly be mistaken for that of Rai Kunimitsu or Rai Kunitsugu.

Kunihisa produced tanto, wakizashi, tachi, and even yari, all of high quality. His tanto are comparatively numerous, while tachi and uchigatana are fewer but uniformly well-crafted. His output in forms such as kanmuri-otoshi-zukuri further demonstrates the school's Yamato heritage. Among his extant works, the dated example of Oei 7 (1400) is the earliest recorded and constitutes valuable documentary material. Both ji and ha are consistently praised as kenzen and bright, and his workmanship is repeatedly described as preeminent, vividly demonstrating the high level of skill attained by the Uda group in the early Muromachi period.