chūzō 鋳造

Also imono 鋳物. Casting. A technique used to make cast sculptural forms. 

The base material was heated and melted down to a liquid, which was poured into a mold, igata 鋳型. This was then left to harden and the mold removed to leave a solid form. Metal, plaster, clay, or glass could be cast in this way. 

The term chūzōbutsu 鋳造仏 refers to cast Buddhist images. *Chūkin 鋳金 refers specifically to metal casting, but since metal was the material most commonly associated with cast images, the terms chūzō and imono are often used interchangeably with chūkin.