It was founded by Rikihisa Tatsusai as Tenchi Kōdō Zenrinkai, and is headquartered in Fukuoka Prefecture.

Zenrinkyō was registered as a legal religious corporation under the Shūkyō Hōjinrei ordinance in 1948.

[1][2][3] Like in many shinshūkyō, the position of head of a religion organization passes on from a parent to his or her child who is related by blood.

He settled in Seoul from September 1929 to April 1938, for the purpose of proselytization such as running the aforementioned religious facility of his father's legacy in Asahi-machi (旭町)[n 3], working as a spiritual medium for police and government works like his father, and especially his striving for personal spiritual improvement that became his most important experience, the four-year training in a cave situated deep in Bukhansan.

[n 4][4][7] The religion that is now Zenrinkyō began proselytizing in South Korea after Rikihisa Tatsusai's visit to Seoul on 20 May 1971.