A periodic variation on a centennial to millennial scale was observed in the manganese and iron contents of Lake Suigetsu sediments in Japan, dating from 19.0 to 5.7 cal. kyr B.P. (calibrated thousand years before present). The increased manganese and iron contents, which mainly indicate the relative abundance of siderite, result from a greater vertical circulation in the lake during a cold period, with a higher mass of manganese and iron oxide being precipitated. The cold periods inferred from the increased manganese and iron contents coincide with the timing of ice-rafting debris (IRD) events in the North Atlantic, which span from the last termination to the Holocene, suggesting that the climate shift was hemispheric or probably global in nature. The manganese variation resembles the residual atmospheric 14C production (Δ14C) data of the Holocene that reflect variation in solar activity, and its periodicities correspond with those of solar-related climate changes from paleoproxy records in the North Atlantic and East Asia from the last cold stage to the Holocene. In particular, the Mn variation was larger in amplitude and shorter in timescale during the last cold stage when compared with those during the last termination and the Holocene, thereby possibly showing a significant difference in climate response to solar irradiance. The transition of the climate system from a glacial to an interglacial state corresponds to the beginning of the last termination.