After the 1609 invasion by Satsuma, Confucian thought entered the Ryukyuan government and began eroding the authority of the priestesses. Satsuma placed a demand on the Ryukyuan government that women were forbidden to own land, however the government ignored this demand in respect to the noro. Shō Shōken, acting as Prime Minister of Ryukyu, convinced the king to stop or scale down a number of religious rituals and ceremonies in the name of saving money and minimizing aspects of Ryukyuan culture that might seem "backwards" to Satsuma, such as the king and kikoe-ōgimi's pilgrimage to Sefa-utaki. However, local village priestesses still retained influence and power until the end of the 19th century.