There were 6 or 7 tanks on Tarawa (light Ha-Go types). I think the only armor on armor action between US and Japanese troops occurred in the Philippines toward the end of the war. It was very small scale. Armor was completely unnecessary for Japan's conquest ambitions.
Marines and Army basically used armor as mobile pillboxes to provide heavy support against bunkers and other tough to destroy emplacements. Since the Pacific wasn't much of a maneuver theater due to terrain, armor was a low priority for both sides.
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"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." Psalms 1:1-3
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