The palatability and physicochemical properties of milled rice produced at different locations in the Kyushu and Chugoku Districts were studied, using the highly palatable rice cultivar Hinohikari. The rice produced at 10 locations was highly palatable, and comparable to the rice cultivar Koshihikari, which was used as the standard. On the other hand, differences in palatability with location and the production year, and the interaction between location and production year were significant. The standard partial regression coefficients against palatability were the highest for taste among the sensory attributes. The palatability was negatively and significantly correlated with the hardness/adhesion ratio (H/-H ratio) of cooked rice in terms of textural characteristics, but was not correlated with the content of protein or amylose. Thus, the palatability of rice produced at each location was strongly affected by the taste and the H/-H ratio of the cooked rice. These results show that we can efficiently evaluate the palatability of rice produced at different locations by measuring the H/-H ratio after cooking.