The story
From Japanese 本(ほん)州(しゅう) (Honshū, “main island”), from Middle Chinese 本 (pwón, “main”) + 州 (t͡ʃjuw, “province”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Honshu
Today it means: The main island of the archipelago of Japan. Full definition →