* Nikkei up 1.2 pct after sell-off as defensive stocks gain

* Market starts lower as Japan slips into recession

* Property firms plunge on weak Tokyo office rent survey (Adds stocks, detail)

By Aiko Hayashi

TOKYO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average rose 1.2 percent in thin trade on Monday as some investors rushed in to buy following an initial sell-off after data showed Japan's economy was in recession.

Amid the global economic turmoil, so-called defensive stocks such as drugmakers including Takeda Pharmaceutical Co (4502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) gained to help buoy the market.

But major real estate firms plunged, with Japan's top property company Mitsui Fudosan Co (8801.T: Quote, Profile, Research) down nearly 5 percent, after the Nikkei business daily said its survey found rent charges for new office buildings in Tokyo had declined for the first time in six years.

Market participants said entities such as public pension funds appeared to have bought shares after the initial sell-off ran its course.

"A slightly softer yen and the notion that stocks are undervalued might have contributed to the gains. Technicals also show the market is in a place where it could move either way," said Yoshinori Nagano, a chief strategist at Daiwa Asset Management.