[13] Most of Japan's industry is located in a belt running along Honshu's southern coast, from Tokyo to Nagoya, Kyōto, Osaka, Kobe, and Hiroshima.

The island primarily shares two climates, with Northern Honshu having four seasons with largely varying temperatures while the south experiences long, hot summers and cool to mild winters.

[16] The Meiji Restoration, in Japanese history, is the political revolution in 1868 that brought the final demise of the Tokugawa shogunate (which is a military government).

It ended the Edo (Tokugawa) Period (1603-1867) and at least nominally returned control of the country to direct imperial rule under Mutsuhito (the Emperor Meiji).

One of the main leaders of the restoration (who were mostly young samurai) was Chōshū in far western Honshu, which was one of the feudal, hostile to Tokugawa authority domains.

In 2011, an earthquake of magnitude 9.0–9.1 occurred off the coast of Honshu, generating tsunami waves up to 40.5 meters (133 ft) high and killing 19,747.

[24] Fruit, vegetables, grains, rice and cotton make up the main produce grown in Honshu.

Honshu is home to a large portion[29] of Japan's minimal mineral reserves,[30] including small oil and coal deposits.

[32] Most of Japan's oil reserves are also located in northern Honshu, along the west coast, spanning Niigata, Yamagata, and Akita Prefectures.

[33] Most of Japan's copper, lead, zinc and chromite is located on Honshu, along with smaller, scattered deposits of gold, silver, arsenic, sulfur and pyrite.

[36][37] The San'yō Shinkansen, connects the two largest cities in western Japan, Shin-Osaka in Osaka with Hakata Station in Fukuoka.