Watch: Sundar Pichai breaks sake barrel as Google opens new office in Japan

To paraphrase, when in Japan, do as the Japanese do. Google CEO Sundar Pichai marked the opening of company's new headquarters in Shibuya ward in Tokyo, Japan with a traditional sake barrel breaking ceremony.

In a tweet posted on Monday, Pichai and others can be seen hitting and breaking the lid of a traditional sake cask specifically used for such ceremonies. "Greetings from Tokyo! Celebrating the opening of our new office in Shibuya with a traditional sake barrel breaking ceremony," Pichai said in his tweet.

Sake barrel breaking ceremony, or kagami biraki, is a 300-year-old tradition supposedly started by a Tokugawa shogun, a military ruler appointed by the Emperor, on the eve of a war. After the war was won, breaking sake barrels for good luck became a new tradition. Now sake barrel breaking ceremonies are performed at opening days of companies, weddings, sporting events and such.

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