鯛の尾より鰯の頭（たいのおよりいわしのかしら）

Japanese vocabulary

Meaning: better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion

See it used in real works

• Example sentences from Japanese novels & web fiction (Massif)
• Hear “鯛の尾より鰯の頭” pronounced in real videos (YouGlish)