To intensively analyze and examine the changes in palatability of cooked rice and structural properties of rice grains influenced by increased nitrogen topdressing during the panicle formation and ripening stage, a series of experiments were carried out using three japonica rice cultivars with contrasting rice quality characteristics. The protein content of brown rice increased maximally up to $35{sim}47%$ of that in standard N6 plot with the increase in nitrogen topdressing fertilizer during 20 days before heading to 10 days after flowering. The high-yielding rice cultivars showing poor palatability of cooked rice revealed larger increase in protein content of rice grains by increased nitrogen topdressing. Under the same nitrogen level of 15 kg per 10a with nitrogen topdressing at 3 kg/10a, high-yielding rice cultivars, Yumehikari and Reihou showed the significant increase in protein content of brown rice when topdressing was applied at 10 days after flowering as compared with when it was applied at 30 days after transplanting. Although the variation in amylose content of milled rice as affected by nitrogen topdressing level was relatively small, it decreased within 1% with the opposite tendency against increased protein content of brown rice by increased nitrogen topdressing. The total score of sensory evaluation was higher in the order of Hinohikari < Yumehikari < Reihou in panel test. It decreased significantly by increased amounts of nitrogen topdressing during 20 days before heading to 10 days after flowering when nitrogen level was higher than 12 kg/10a. The more poor palatable rice cultivar in panel test revealed the larger decreasing in total score of sensory evaluation by higher nitrogen topdressing rates. All sensory evaluation components were largely affected by the change in protein content of brown rice rather than amylose content of milled rice. The influence of protein content to palatability of cooked rice was larger in poor-palatable rice than in high-palatable rice. The protein content decreased drastically from outer layer to inner layer of rice grains, while the amylose content increased on the contrary. The high-palatable rice exhibited higher distribution of protein content on bran layer but lower distribution of protein content on the layer of polished rice as compared with the poor-palatable rice. Especially, the high-palatable rice showed also significantly lower distribution of amylose content on the outer layer of polished rice as compared with the poor-palatable rice.