How a Pearl Harbor landing would reach shore

Could Japan have landed troops at Pearl Harbor from merchant ships disguised as neutral vessels?

It could have tried, but dedicated landing craft offered a better chance of putting troops ashore quickly during a dawn assault coordinated with the air strikes.

Merchant ships disguised as neutral vessels were a poor substitute for landing craft and assault shipping able to put troops ashore quickly. The proposed attack would begin around dawn while defenders were already responding to the air strikes. This operational extension of the counterfactual required destruction of the base and its organisation as well as damage to battleships.