I haven't seen a check since the 80ies, except one. Got one in return from some USSAnian scammer company. I was told by my bank I had to travel to USSA to cash it in. Would you be happy if you got a check which you had to travel to Japan to cash in? Probably cheaper to take the 5% option.
Sturle, you keep mentioning this 5% emergency withdrawal option, but not a single person on this site has been able to provide any evidence for it. Further, if such an option existed, it would currently be quite profitable as the spread between other sites and Mtgox is over 5%.
See previous pages of this thread for first hand reports of emergency withdrawals.