後こう門もんの虎とら、前ぜん門もんの狼おおかみ

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

• 彼かれは借しゃっ金きん取とりから逃にげたら、今こん度どはヤクザに追おわれることになった。まさに後こう門もんの虎とら、前ぜん門もんの狼おおかみだ。

  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.

• 転てん職しょくしたら前まえよりひどい職しょく場ばで、後こう門もんの虎とら、前ぜん門もんの狼おおかみだった。

  I changed jobs only to end up in a worse workplace—a tiger at the back gate, a wolf at the front.