It depends on the type of knife. Japanese chef knives are honed first, then sharpened because these knives should only be used for slicing softer ingredients like cooked meat and vegetables; not harder foods like bread or potatoes.
Japanese chef knives require a more acute edge to provide an efficient cut through food while minimizing the frictional forces that result from cutting the softer items mentioned earlier. This requires that they be honed first to smooth edges and restore factory-new edges, then sharpened every month or so as needed with a sharper blade—a ceramic rod is a good bet for this as it won't remove too much metal in previous years' honing activities.