Also kinjūza 禽獣座 and jūza 獣座. A pedestal or throne for a Buddhist image in the form of a bird or a beast.
According to the sutras and iconographic manuals, certain Buddhist deities use a bird or an animal to move about. The deity may sit directly on the animal, or a lotus pedestal *rengeza 蓮華座 may be placed between the animal and the figure. For example, *Kujaku Myōō 孔雀明王 uses a peacock and *Bonten 梵天 uses a goose. The animal bases include: elephants, used for the bodhisattva *Fugen 普賢; lions, specifically termed *shishiza 獅子座 are represented with *Monju 文殊 (also used for *Dainichi 大日 and *Ichiji kinrin 一字金輪); and water buffalos are often represented with *Daiitoku Myōō 大威徳明王 or *Enmaten 焔魔天. Less common animal bases include the horse, turtle, wild boar, and deer.
Chōjūza were seldom used in the Nara period except for the elephant for Fugen and the lion for Monju, but they became very popular in the 9th century with the rise of esoteric Buddhism. Esoteric icons of deities that sit on birds and animals include the sculpted images of the Five Great Akasagarbha Godai kokūzō 五大虚空蔵 at Kanchiin 観智院 in Kyōōgokokuji 教王護国寺 (Tōji 東寺), Kyoto, and the original painting of the Eighty-one Buddhist Deities in the Kongōkai hachijūisson mandara 金剛界八十一尊曼荼羅 and its 13th-century copy in the Nezu 根津 Museum, Tokyo. These examples were brought from China in the early Heian period.
The popularity of chōjūza did not last long. In early examples of the Twelve Deities *jūniten 十二天 such as the 9th-century paintings from Saidaiji 西大寺, Nara, the figures, sit on animal thrones, while in later examples such as the screens preserved at the Kyoto National Museum (formerly in Kyōōgokokuji) and dating from 1127, they are seated on carpet seats *kuyuza くゆ座.