He IS back. Stayed absent for an year or so but did return in time for their latest album and he’s now touring with the band again.
Answering the topic: Dunno about the rest of pop culture in Japan in general, but cancel culture doesn’t seem to be as relevant in Japan when it comes to VK as it is in the West. In most cases folks seem to be fine with the cancelled dudes saying they’re sorry. Most recent example I can think of is MERRY’s black face controversy. But if we start digging deeper with the intent of cancelling people VK is a hotspot for controversy. I mean:
and that’s just the tip of the iceberg from a quick Google search…