In 1856, he was adopted by his elder brother Honda Masahiro as heir, and was received in formal audience by Shogun Tokugawa Iesada in 1857, who awarded him the courtesy title of Kii-no-kami and court rank of Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade.

Through mediation of Owari Domain, he agreed to surrender Sunpu Castle to the new Meiji government in June 1868.

With the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the final Tokugawa Shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, surrendered his title to Emperor Meiji, and relocated from Edo to Sumpu, with the provinces of Suruga, Izu and Mikawa as his personal domains.

In June of the same year, the title of daimyō was abolished, and he became imperial governor of Nagao.

On December 14, 1870, he turned Nagao Domain over to his adopted son, Honda Masanori, and retired from public life.