Mendō

Mendō is a Chinese-style compound written 面倒 (literally 'face fall') and has the meaning 'bother, nuisance'. It is not actually a Chinese word; it is a native Japanese coinage in the form of a Chinese compound.

The following notice directed at mobile phone users asks them to use their phones near the entrance of the restaurant.

Go-shiyō no sai wa, go-mendō demo iriguchi fukin... When using, although it is a bother, please use near the entrance.

The following sign writes mendō in hiragana as めんどう (as part of the word mendō-mi or 'looking after').

Ato ato made mendō-mi no ii mise Shop that looks after you right through.

This is fairly atypical and in a way eye-catching because it uses almost all hiragana. (The English 'Secure After Service' is Japanese-style English meaning 'Good after-sales service'.)

A Google search in August 2003 finds that the use of Chinese characters to write 面倒 is standard, but hiragana is also used quite commonly.