There's a lot of general history books out there on Japan, several which treat the entire history of Japan. Some of them are good, some are...not so good.

Now, I'm far beyond "needing" a general history book on the history of Japan (but have started reading them again, since I feel like I should be able to tell beginners where to start), so here's a few mentions:

Nancy K. Stalker's Japan: History and Culture from Classical to Cool seems to be good; I do have it, but I only skimmed through it so far. It's a textbook (and thus, an easy read) for undergrad students, so its intended to be a first-read for people with no prior knowledge, and also very recent (being recent is always good, since it raises the chances that contemporary, generally accepted, research opinions are reflected). Also, it does dedicate a lot of its 450 pages on culture, arts, architecture, religion, gender, etc., and isn't just politics. Its also good that it lists several books and even films for further reading / watching after each chapter.

Another option, I suppose, back when I was an undergrad myself, I did like Mikiso Hane's books (they were mandatory reading in my Introduction to the History of Japan class), but I don't know the current revised/rewritten editions that he wrote in the meantime. He does have an abridged one out since 2013 (the original was two volumes), called Japan: A Short History.

I don't think you can go really wrong with either as a start, but from what I've read in Stalker's book so far, I'd definitely lean towards that one, despite it being a little bit more expensive (should be around $30, although the kindle edition currently is reduced in price to $20).

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Now, I think it should be mentioned that for something really in-depth, there's really nothing more voluminous on the marked than George Sansom's three-volume A History of Japan. It is classic and quite comprehensive, but its also old (it was published in the 1950s); so the facts are there, but there's bound to be huge discrepancies concerning their interpretations compared to current scholarship. Its also somewhat of an investment: expect to shell out 100 bucks for all three volumes and obviously its...really long. I would consider that "overkill," and not very practical without critical reading since its really, really outdated in places :)

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Lastly, for something a bit more specific:

One book I recently did read through on an afternoon that I found quite competent was Michael Wert's Samurai: A Concise History. Its based on current scholarship, inexpensive, but also, as the title suggests, quite short (less than 120 pages). What's in this book is really good, but certainly not enough to be the "one" book to read and you might end up wanting more context for some things; also, since its on samurai history, it only deals with aspects of history, and only with the medieval period onward.

I did also hear good things from acquaintances and colleagues about Andrew Gordon's A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present; but, again, that will not give you any information about the medieval period and before.

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Hope that helps.