Background
Honda was born in Settsu, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He started playing football for the local club; Settsu FC, he started there when he was in second grade at primary school. He entered Seiryo High School in Ishikawa Prefecture and chose to play for the school. He was one of the best players in the team and the school team advanced to the semi-finals of the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament. This was the first time a school from Ishikawa Prefecture had reached the semi-finals of the competition. In 2004 he was selected as a Designated Player for Development by the J-League and JFA.
Because of this status, Honda was able to register as a Nagoya Grampus player while he was still eligible to play for his high school. He played one J. League Cup match for Nagoya while he was still a boy student. After his graduation, he officially joined Nagoya in 2005. He started the first match of the season and recorded an assist. In 2006, he became a regular in the club.
On January 16, 2008, Honda signed a two and half year deal with Eredivisie side VVV-Venlo. The team was relegated to the Eerste Divisie, the second division after the 07-08 season and was in the division for the 08-09 season. In the 08-09 season, he scored 16 goals in 36 league appearances to help the team to be promoted to Eredivisie for the 09-10 season. He became known as 'Keizer Keisuke' (Emperor Keisuke) among the fans of VVV-Venlo.
At the end of December 2009, Honda transferred to Russian club CSKA Moscow. Honda signed a 4 year contract. The transfer fee was undisclosed, but VVV-Venlo was said to be very content with the fee as it almost matched their asking price; it is believed to be in the region of 6 million euros.
Honda made his debut for CSKA in the UEFA Champions League match against Sevilla. In the second leg in Seville, he scored the winning goal through a direct free kick for CSKA after having set up the first goal for Tomáš Necid. This secured a 2–1 (3–2 aggregate) victory to send the club to the quarterfinals, making Honda the first Japanese player to be in the quarterfinals as well as the first to score in the knock-out stages.
Honda scored his first league goal on 12 March 2010, in the home match against Amkar Perm. He scored the goal in the third minute of injury time, slotting home a pass from Necid with his left. With the goal, he secured the win for CSKA Moscow.