Japan's decisive-battle problem

Could Japan force a decisive battle, defeat the US fleet, and then strike the American west coast?

Only if the United States made the unlikely mistake of pursuing into a prepared attritional trap across the western Pacific.

Decisive battle is the final blow in Japan's attrition strategy, rather than the strategy by itself. Japan would need to reduce the American fleet before the climactic engagement and then entice it into unfavorable waters. American commanders were likely to understand this danger too well to make such a reckless pursuit.