expression
between a rock and a hard place; out of the frying pan into the fire
Idiomatic expression describing a situation where one danger is replaced by another, or one is caught between two dangers. The literal image is a tiger at the back gate and a wolf at the front gate.
See also: 前門の虎、後門の狼
彼は借金取りから逃げたら、今度はヤクザに追われることになった。まさに後門の虎、前門の狼だ。
He escaped the debt collectors only to be chased by the yakuza. It's truly a case of out of the frying pan into the fire.
転職したら前よりひどい職場で、後門の虎、前門の狼だった。
I changed jobs only to end up in a worse workplace—a tiger at the back gate, a wolf at the front.
A Chinese-derived four-character idiom (四字熟語) that paints a vivid picture of being trapped between two dangers. The exact origin is uncertain, but it is used in Japanese as a set phrase.