[8] Honda entered the Japanese film industry in 1934, working as the third assistant director on Sotoji Kimura's The Elderly Commoner's Life Study.

In 1954, Honda directed and co-wrote Godzilla, which became a box office success in Japan and was nominated for two Japanese Movie Association awards.

It helped Honda gain international recognition and led him to direct numerous tokusatsu films that are still studied and watched today.

[13] Honda stated that his forename was a combination derived from three words: "'I' stands for inoshishi, the boar, the astrological symbol of my birth year.

Though he was an honors student back home, Honda's grades declined in Tokyo and in middle school; he struggled with subjects involving equations such as chemistry, biology, and algebra.

Rather than having a traditional wedding ceremony, the two simply signed papers at city hall, paid their respects at Meiji Shrine, and went home.

[34] Honda was eventually captured by the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and relocated to an area between Beijing and Shanghai for a year before the war ended.

When the battle ended, Honda later returned to retrieve the shell and took it back home to Japan where he placed it on top of his desk in his private study until his death.

[39] Between September and October 1948, Honda was on location in Noto Peninsula working on Kajirō Yamamoto's Child of the Wind, the first release from Film Arts.

Between July and September 1949, shortly after finishing Ise-Shima, Honda reunited with his friend Akira Kurosawa on Stray Dog and began working as a chief assistant director on the film.

Toho then chose not to proceed with the project after finding Honda's script, which openly criticized leaders of World War II, to be too grim and realistic.

[52] A month after the release of Farewell Rabaul, Honda met assistant director Kōji Kajita to commence production on a film titled Sanshiro the Priest.

[56][57][54] Honda and screenwriter Takeo Murata confined themselves in a three-week secluded residence at an inn in Tokyo's Shibuya ward to write the screenplay for this film, entitled Godzilla.

The simple story, about a giant monster that rises near Odo Island and attacks Tokyo causing catastrophic destruction, is a metaphor for a nuclear holocaust.

[65] Honda's next film was Lovetide, based on Hidemi Kon's story Blow, River Wind and adapted by screenwriter Dai Nishijima.

"[67] During the start of production on Motoyoshi Oda's Godzilla Raids Again, Honda began filming Half Human in the Japanese Alps.

[81] A Rainbow Plays in My Heart, a black-and-white two-part film based on Seiichi Yashiro and Ryunosuke Yamada's[82] radio drama of the same name, was released on July 9, 1957 (a week after A Teapicker's Song of Goodbye).

[91] Considered his "weakest effort",[92] it is a simple story about scientists who unintentionally awake a giant monster dubbed Varan while seeking scarce species of butterfly in Tōhoku region.

Featuring Ryō Ikebe in his fourth major role in a Honda movie, and with a possibly Hideko the Bus Conductor-inspired screenplay by Gorō Tanada, the film premiered in January 1959 to generally positive reviews from critics.

Additionally, it features Godzilla actors Takashi Shimura as his father and Ren Yamamoto and Sachio Sakai as his older brothers.

While Honda managed to retain a job directing for Toho during the 1960s and 1970s, the studio did not renew his contract near the end of 1965 and was instructed to speak with Tanaka about employment on a film-by-film basis.

His positions in these films included: directorial advisor, production coordinator, and creative consultant; he also made uncredited writing contributions to Madadayo (1993).

[104] Then, in mid-February 1993, Kurosawa, Honda, and Masahiko Kumada, the unit manager, attended a screening of Agantuk, Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray's last film, at an art-house cinema.

In the following days, Honda contracted pleurisy, a condition that causes difficulty breathing, and on February 27, just after returning home from visiting hours, Kimi and Takako received an urgent call: his vital signs had suddenly deteriorated.

[106][107] A memorial service was held at Joshoji Kaikan, an assembly hall in Setagaya, for Honda's friends, family, and colleagues on March 6.

[181] Tarantino is also one of several filmmakers and actors who have cited Honda's The War of the Gargantuas as an influence,[182] alongside Brad Pitt,[7][183] Guillermo del Toro,[184] and Tim Burton.

The central plotline of the episode involves a kraken-esque creature named Tagumo, that Honda has written, which becomes a reality due to a magic book that belongs to Brigid, the Celtic goddess of art.

[187] In his acclaimed 2023 film Godzilla Minus One, filmmaker and visual effects artist Takashi Yamazaki paid homage to Honda's work.

[188] In October 2011, Honda's family began suing Toho and three other companies involved in the 2010 pachinko game CR Godzilla: Descent of the Destruction God, requesting ¥127 million.

Toho dismissed his claim as unnecessary, stating that they "have never received any objections" from Honda nor his widow Kimi regarding Godzilla's copyright ownership.