The was one of the six schools of Buddhism introduced to Japan during the Asuka and Nara periods. Along with the and the Risshū, it is a school of Nikaya Buddhism, which is sometimes derisively known to Mahayana Buddhism as "the Hinayana".
A Sarvastivada school, Kusha-shū focused on abhidharma analysis based on the "Commentary on the " by the fourth-century Gandharan philosopher Vasubandhu. The school takes its name from that authoritative text.
Names commonly associated with the Kusha-shū are Dōshō (道昭 638–700), Joe (644–714), Chitsū (智通 ?–?), Chitatsu (智達 ?–?), and Genbō (玄昉 ?–746).