From what I read, Honda's SBK effort is under direction of Honda Europe, as opposed to Honda Corporate, and it seems that they may look at racing a bit differently from Corporate. At least based on reports, they DO look at it more as a commercial venture. I cannot imagine Soichiro taking such a stance -- it is inconceivable that HE would contemplate pulling out, or even scaling back, under the circumstances.
Can you imagine the irony -- Edwards earns the No 1 plate for Honda and wears it in the front of a Ducati all next season while Honda either sits it out or mounts a half-assed, low budget effort with a no-name rider?!
I agree with your assessment of Honda's corporate culture regarding racing. They race to win, certainly, and they like the favorable PR, but even more they race to become better -- that is why they rotate engineers etc through their race teams. Their production cars or bikes would not be what they are if they farmed out race development to separate teams like so many others do.
Given that, maybe Honda Corporate will step in and overrule Honda Europe. We can hope!