This study estimates the sound absorption capability of rice straw particle mats by two methods: the transfer function method and the reverberation room method. In the reverberation method, the central frequency was set to the one-third octave band in the 100-5000 Hz range; in the transfer function method, the frequency range was 500-6400 Hz. Both methods yielded similar noise reduction coefficients of the rice straw mats. The noise reduction coefficient was approximately 0.8, indicating a high sound-absorption property of the mats. Therefore, rice straw matting is a suitable candidate material for sound-barrier walls against highway noise.