On May 2, 2024, X account @PopBase shared a video claiming to depict American recording artists Beyoncé and Jay-Z during a trip to Japan. The post received more than 2.1 million views and 36,000 likes, as of this writing.
Other viral tweets sharing the video accused Beyoncé of cultural appropriation and compared her to Taylor Swift, who was accused of appropriation when she was photographed wearing a kimono.
The video was indeed real; the footage was posted on Beyoncé's personal Instagram account as a part of a reel on May 1, 2024 (archived here). It was likely taken in March 2024, which is when she held a signing event at Tower Records Shibuya, Tokyo. However, neither Beyoncé nor Jay-Z was sporting traditional Japanese apparel.
(Instagram account @beyonce)
The singer and her husband visited Japan to promote Beyoncé's latest album, "Cowboy Carter." She held an album signing on March 29, 2024.
The coat Beyoncé wore in the video can also be seen in designer LaPointe's Fall 2024 "Ready to Wear" line.