(FORTUNE Magazine) – At one of Tokyo's three Seibu department stores, you can buy Clinique cosmetics on the first floor and scuba-diving lessons in the basement. Says store planning manager Tokio Arai: ''Now a customer can buy a bathing suit, jump into our pool, then dry off and arrange a scuba-diving tour at our travel agency.'' Sales at Japanese department stores (depahto) grew by about 7% in 1988, twice the average rate. Although the trends that created such a fine year -- low inflation, higher wages, and luxury-minded shoppers -- are expected to continue, Japanese retailers are already preparing for the next lull. They're moving away from goods and into services.

One floor down from its 13-foot-deep scuba pool, Seibu has a golf driving range. Isetan and Printemps department stores have driving ranges on their roofs -- with nets to protect pedestrians below. Financial service centers, run either by the depahto or by other companies, are also popular. Citicorp has set up a counter on the sixth floor of Tokyu department store to sell financial services, as well as real estate in Hawaii and California. ''Most stores now carry the same merchandise, so if we want to stand out we have to develop specialty services,'' says Jun Kishimoto, a spokesman for Isetan. In the past six months the store has arranged a tour to Antarctica and developed a computer-based order and home-delivery system for supermarket goods.