BOTTOM LINE: This is THE place for Japanese groceries on the west side.
(3.5 STARS)
Other Yelpers have written about how Sanko doesn't offer more than J-town or T&T in terms of selection or prices, but the fact remains it's still one of the only places in the downtown core that sell some of the rarer Japanese ingredients. Until there's more competition, Sanko gets 3.5 stars.
I would still recommend going to China Town for the common stuff like the noodles, snacks and bowls - it's WAY cheaper there; however, if you want some high quality miso paste and some coveted yuzu, this is where you want to be! An old Japanese couple own the store and haven't given me bad advice yet! Their recommendations for which miso paste and yuzu to use with my miso black cod and miso soup recipes were spot on, and now it's hard for me to imagine shelling out the big bucks for miso black cod in restaurants when it's so easy to make at home!