kenkyuuka (研究科‘): "postgraduate course"
This term refers to the number of years it has been since a seito's debut. Kenkyuuka 1-nen means "postgraduate course year 1", signifying that the seito debuted within the last year. "Kenkyuuka" is often abbreviated as "ken", hence "ken-1", "ken-2" etc. is the common way that an seito grade is designated. Ken-year changes over with the beginning of the hatsubutai of a new class, i.e. generally in April of each year. This means that the ken-year is calculated from April - March of the following year, rather than the standard calendar year.
Related Links:
joukyuusei
kakyuusei
This term refers to the number of years it has been since a seito's debut. Kenkyuuka 1-nen means "postgraduate course year 1", signifying that the seito debuted within the last year. "Kenkyuuka" is often abbreviated as "ken", hence "ken-1", "ken-2" etc. is the common way that an seito grade is designated. Ken-year changes over with the beginning of the hatsubutai of a new class, i.e. generally in April of each year. This means that the ken-year is calculated from April - March of the following year, rather than the standard calendar year.
Related Links:
joukyuusei
kakyuusei